PARIS (AP) — Janja Garnbret heard the young girls talking about how they could climb faster if they dropped weight, and the sport climbing star decided to speak up. The eight-time world champion and defending Olympic gold medalist went on Instagram last year to raise awareness of the problems of eating disorders in sport climbing: “Do we want to raise the next generation of skeletons? Let’s not look away.” “I decided to speak about it because this is like a taboo in the climbing world,” she told The Associated Press ahead of the Paris Olympics .
“Everybody knew about it, and everybody was talking behind each other’s back. So everybody was talking, but nobody said it out loud.” Eating disorders have long been a part of sport climbing, which made its Olympic debut in Tokyo and where lighter athletes typically have an advantage while trying to go higher and faster on the climbing routes.
But the athletes are going to be monitored more closely in Paris — the first Olympics with a screening process for climbing competitors that looks for signs of eating disorders and similar health issues. “A first step seems to have been taken but further ones need to follow," said the 25-year-old Garnbret, who will start competing in Paris this week. "It is good that screenings and supervision of athlete’s health seems to be taken more seriously, but it all will first prove relevant when someone who doesn’t fulfill the health criteria is actually not allowed to compete.
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