Olympic jumpers are urged to 'perform better' and lose a few pounds
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Rejection is cruel. When Priscilla Frederick-Loomis was 16, she attended a casting session for a modeling agency in New York and was told she was 'too heavy.'
Even now at the age of 31, those two words still haunt the Olympic high jumper. Loomis, who was raised by a single mother in New Jersey, also toyed with the idea of becoming an actress, a dream she didn't let go of as she pursued a career in sports. Loomis is a two-time Pan American Games silver medalist and competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 'I'm going to use track and field to make my name,' she told CNN Sport from her home in the US. She represents her father's home country of Antigua and Barbuda. Pursuing a track career is not easy. 'When you're trying to be an elite athlete, in addition to trying to sign contracts, in addition to dealing with coaches, there's also the pressure, for me, as an African-American woman representing a Caribbean island. You're disgracing your body.'
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Don't eat... A better dancer
If the modeling industry left Loomis scarred and unhappy with her body, perceptions of her weight also affected her athletic ambitions. Although she never thought of herself as having an eating disorder, Loomis remembers a conversation she had with a college dietitian in which she asked, ' How can I be anorexic and an athlete? ' 'When I say to my nutritionist THAT I want to be anorexic, I don't mean that I want to have an eating disorder. The power of the word is not obvious to me. 'Now, I look back and think, 'What happened to me? I didn't even realize that a lot of female athletes have eating disorders.' But at that point in her career, given that she weighed 158 pounds and was 5 feet 10 inches tall, 6 inches shorter than her competitors and at least 20 pounds heavier, Loomis felt she had to do this to succeed. 'To me, it's just common sense: Don't eat too much, look better, dance better,' said Loomis, who remembers being advised in college by her coach at the time, Richard Fisher, to grab something to eat after practice. 'I want an ice cream, a little ice cream,' she said, showing me how small the size was. But another coach told Loomis to put the ice cream down. 'In my head, it was playing around with me for a long time because I thought, 'I'm making bad decisions. I'm fat, 'Loomis said.'
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Love yourself
There is no specific body size requirement for participation in the Olympics,' the IAAF said in a statement sent to CNN. That's not the case. There is no such requirement. Eligibility criteria are all based on performance. Last year, The World Athletics Association released a Consensus Statement on Nutrition, providing athletes, coaches and managers with the latest research and guidance on nutrition. In a statement sent to CNN Sport, the IOC also said it 'stands for non-discrimination and is one of the founding pillars of the Olympic Movement, as reflected in the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter. 'The rights and freedoms provided for in this Olympic Charter shall be enjoyed without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 'In addition, the athletes' security and well-being is the international Olympic committee's priorities and core values, the international Olympic committee (ioc) has been committed to lead and support the implementation of the Olympic movement safeguard measures, meet the requirements of the Olympic charter's mission: to promote safe sports, to protect athletes from all forms of harassment and abuse. Even Loomis' teammates were quick to chime in with disparaging comments about her appearance. Loomis said after her appearance at the 2015 Outdoor World Championships in Beijing that she was called 'fat' and 'heavy' by her teammates from Antigua and Barbuda. That was after she had just raced on the track. The Antiguan and Barbuda Olympic Committees did not immediately respond to CNN Sport's request for comment. Three years later, she placed fifth in the high jump at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. She went to the bar to get a beer to celebrate when a man approached her and said, 'Oh, I saw you on TV.' The man recognized Loomis by her famous purple hair. If you can lose a few kilograms, you will perform better.' As a result of the comments, Loomis says she dehydrates herself with a pot of coffee to look slim on screen. Loomis is currently working with a female coach, former New York State high jump champion Lauren Biscardi. The 31-year-old said Biscardi 'changed my career'. She made me love training, love myself, let me feel.'
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