Olympic bronze for a “big girl”

Here is a great TBT post from July 2012. Olympian Elana Mayers contributed an excellent body confidence piece to our Body Image Series. Today, we honor our Disruptive Olympian! For more great resources on Body Image, please download our free e-book. 
In 2010 when I was named to the U.S. Olympic bobsled team, I was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, female athlete on the team.  I was definitely not the tallest, but I did have one of the highest weights – it was even reported in an article.
In my sport, the goal is to push a 400-pound bobsled as fast as you can for approximately 5 seconds and then hop in, so it requires pure explosive speed, strength, and power. Competing in a sport where bigger is better, as long as you can still move, I came into the games anywhere between 178-180 pounds. It might seem odd to think of a female athlete who weighs 180 pounds, but moving a 400-pound sled is no easy task, and as my teammates like to say, “it takes mass to move mass.”  I proved that theory; at 180lbs I won an Olympic bronze medal.
Why is my weight at all significant?  Ever since I started playing sports I highly valued a muscular body.  When I saw a muscular body, I thought of all the power and strength that it must have.  Growing up, many of my female peers wanted to be skinnier, wanted that thin model look, but I wanted to be strong, fast, and powerful.  In middle school I finally started developing muscles, and I quickly became known as a “big girl.” I...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - July 14, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Body Image athlete bulimia Eating disorder Olympics Source Type: blogs