The ex-head coach of the rhythmic gymnastics national team became public on Wednesday From Laura Aho the disciplinary case regarding has spoken across sport boundaries and the field of organizations. Ahonen and another coach are suspected of having acted inappropriately towards young, even minor, national team gymnasts for years.
Athletes interviewed by Urheilu talk about being humiliated, bullied and pressured to lose weight. Many former national team gymnasts say that the coaches’ actions have caused them long-term and serious health problems, including eating disorders.
Read more: The former head coach of the Finnish national team is suspected of years of improper activity – gymnasts report constant dieting and eating disorders
Eating disorder association expert Katri Mikkilä says that the Eating Disorders Association and the Gymnastics Association had an active cooperation a few years ago, which, however, faded after the start of the corona pandemic.
– Often the contacts were related to a similar eating disorder. They have wanted to show that they consider the matter important, and of course we appreciate such contacts. Together, we have produced material that clubs can use, for example, in the training of coaches.
– Now we haven’t received any requests from them for a long time, Mikkilä regrets.
Katri Mikkilä thinks about how many cases need to come to the fore in order for the culture of the sport to change.
– It is sad that this is not the first time that these cases of eating disorders, quite serious ones, have come to light in the world of sports and especially in gymnastics. It makes me wonder how many milder cases happen that never make the headlines.
Focus more on performance than weight
Katri Mikkilä would like to focus more on the performance itself instead of body size and weight.
– It should be considered how much importance weight really has and how much it is about dusty ideas about what a gymnast’s body or an athletic body is like. If the demands of the sport conflict with a person’s natural weight, then it may not be conducive to performance or health, nor is it sustainable to constantly aim for a lower weight, says Mikkilä.
The gymnasts interviewed by said that the weekly or even more frequent weigh-ins caused them a compulsive need to lose weight. Gymnasts’ thoughts revolve only around watching their weight, losing weight and eating. The interviewees felt that thinness and losing weight was a condition for getting into the team composition.
Ahonen, who served as the head coach of the national team until January 2022, admits to the weighing and intervention in the weight gain of some athletes, but denies that he commented inappropriately on the weight of those he coaches.
According to the announcement of the gymnastics association, a diet of 1400 kilocalories or 1600 kilocalories was recommended for some of the gymnasts, even though the young athletes had around 30 training hours per week. Katri Mikkilä marvels at the rigorous weighing and the low-energy diet.
– These calorie amounts sound very small and insufficient. I would like more understanding of the natural changes in weight, for example, within a day, week and month, especially in menstruating athletes. Menstruation affects weight and can be affected. Disciplined weight reduction is hardly justified in any sport, says Mikkilä.
Is thinness beauty?
According to the rules of rhythmic gymnastics, appearance has no influence on athletic success. Laura Ahonen justified the weigh-ins with the demands of the sport at the top level. Based on a report by the Finnish Sports Ethics Center (Suek), Ahonen has still felt that the consistency of the team and the physical characteristics of the athletes have an effect on the results in practice.
In his email reply to Urheilu, Ahonen stated that the rules of the International Gymnastics Federation state that team members must represent “equal beauty”.
Katri Mikkilä of the Eating Disorders Association hopes that gymnastics circles would discuss valuing the external essence and body size.
– What worries me the most is that a certain type of body is valued higher than another, and how the coaches have referred to the judging criteria in the sport. It is certainly the case that you cannot influence everything, says Mikkilä.
Mikkilä questions Ahonen’s interpretation of the team’s “equal beauty”.
– In 2022, critically examining, are there sustainable justifications for how beauty is associated with thinness? Mikkilä asks.
The chief physician requires an update to the press release
Chief physician of the Research Center for Competition and Elite Sports (Kihu) and the Olympic Committee Maarit Valtonen demands in his blog post (you will switch to another service) cultural change to rhythmic gymnastics.
According to Valtonen, the challenge of rhythmic gymnastics in terms of press coverage is that the top stage of a sports career is reached at a very young age and that the sport is very appearance-oriented. Therefore, the responsibility of adults is greater than in sports where athletes are at their peak at the age of 25-30.
– The permitted weight and food speech in 2022 is different from past decades and there are strong reasons for it. The justifications can be found in humanity, performance and health, but above all in the fact that young people should have peace to grow and develop without the distorted and outdated ideas about weight carried by adults, Valtonen stated in his blog.
Sports are always a risk for eating disorders
Valtonen writes in her blog that studies show that 25 percent of Finnish female athletes restrict their eating and 7–15 percent of female athletes have an eating disorder.
According to Mikkilä, prevalence figures for eating disorders are at best only good estimates of the truth.
– I dare to say that the reading in gymnastics is certainly bigger than 7–15 percent. It is known that sports are always a risk for eating disorders. Aesthetic sports, such as gymnastics, are particularly high-risk sports, says Mikkilä.
According to Katri Mikkilä, the Eating Disorders Association considers Valtonen’s statement important. Many people seeking treatment for an eating disorder have a sports background. Aesthetic sports, endurance sports and weight class sports are strongly represented, but according to Mikkilä, no sport protects against eating disorders.
The Human Rights Association’s Don’t Violate Sport campaign has intervened in the human rights issues of sports and tried to eradicate, for example, racism, bullying and discrimination from sports. Mikkilä hopes that comments related to the body and appearance would be dealt with more thoroughly.
– Commenting on body and weight can be just as disruptive as many other inappropriate behaviors in sports, which has been wonderfully highlighted. Many sports have a place for looking in the mirror, and I want to believe that this will happen.