Speed skater Nooralotta Neziri talks about her distorted body image, which has been influenced by, among other things, the negative comments she has received from e.g. her coach and the media.
A fencer Nooralotta Neziri has received negative feedback about his appearance during his sports career.
A six-time Finnish champion in the 100-meter hurdles, an Olympic athlete and a multiple-time winner of prestigious competitions, he opens up his experiences to Urheilu.
Her experience with her body image has been uncertain.
– I hadn’t looked at my body critically until my coach commented on it. That’s when I knew I wasn’t good at it, says Neziri.
Nezir thought about it for a long time. His body image began to distort, which affected his eating habits, for example.
– When I was on the verge of an eating disorder, thinking about food took up a large part of my everyday life. I couldn’t enjoy the food, I was stressed about counting calories and about my body, for example, in small clothes in competitions, says Neziri.
Cutting back on eating weakened Nezir’s training results. Later, he got help with his eating habits from a nutrition coach.
The right kind of eating reduced the fat percentage, improved body composition and performance. At the moment, Neziri feels that food is a tool for her because she can relate to it better.
– The more and more freely I have eaten, the better I have felt in my body. Having a normal attitude towards food has helped with my body image.
Neziri, 31, is right now with her body image, but three years ago you couldn’t have said the same.
– From the age of 17 to the age of 28, I had a really distorted body image. We had to struggle with those things for ten years before we can say that that phase is over.
Sports culture and media affect body image
Sports psychologist Susanna Jääskeläinen says that sport culture is important for an athlete’s body image, among other things.
– An athlete’s body image is affected by what kind of expectation there is in the sport and what kind of bodies have been successful there before. What is a good-looking gymnast or tennis player, or an enthusiast of any sport, says Jääskeläinen.
He also highlights the influence of the media. These days, publicity creates pressure for athletes. Athletes also have to use publicity to earn money.
– Certainly many athletes who have to be in front of the camera in small clothes feel pressure about how they look, says Jääskeläinen.
– We often compare ourselves to an ideal of what we would like to look like. In sports where there is more clothing, such as hockey, the pressure from the media and the public is likely to be less.
Neziri does not feel that body image is taboo anymore. Still, he thinks the topic should be discussed more. Wrong or thoughtless comments can cause young athletes to feel pressured about their own body image.
Jääskeläinen would also like a more open discussion on the subject.
– I don’t know that there is much discussion about body image in training with athletes, for example how your own body feels, how you perceive it, whether you are satisfied with your body or whether it is good to be in it. We could talk more about it from this point of view as well, states Jääskeläinen.