The 18-year-old Filipina Olympian has announced she’ll be taking a quarter off to recover
In an unfortunate announcement, 18-year-old Filipina Olympic gymnast Levi Jung-Ruivivar revealed she is currently struggling with an eating disorder.
While Ruivivar doesn’t specify what kind of eating disorder it is, she said she will be taking the current winter quarter off her alma mater Stanford’s gymnastics team to recover. “I had lots of trepidation sharing this information with the public as it is something I haven’t told many of my closest friends,” she said in a post on Instagram. “However, I think it is important for various reasons.”
“First, I want to be extremely honest with everyone who is a part of my journey. Second, I believe by being transparent I can minimize the shame I feel around it. Third, I want to be a voice for anyone who may be struggling with an eating disorder, you are not alone.”
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Ruivivar underscores the importance of dealing with the disorder while she’s still ahead, revealing that she has been battling it since before enrolling in Stanford. “As an elite athlete, I felt it was vital to stop the damage it was doing to my body and mind by seeking help,” she concludes.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — amounted to a $4.38 billion deficit in August, narrowing from the $4.89-billion shortfall recorded in the previous month. However, this was still higher compared to the $4.11 deficit in August 2023.
Ruivivar’s revelation shines a light on something few people ever think about when it comes to athletes and their lifestyles: That sometimes, in the pursuit of peak health and performance, a strict diet could lead to overcorrections such as excessive calorie counting and portion control, which can manifest as disordered eating.
While Levi Jung-Ruivivar doesn’t go into details about what kind of disorder she has, it doesn’t take an expert to realize that sports tends to favor athletes who look a certain way, just because performance tends to correlate with weight, and sometimes, body fatWhile Ruivivar doesn’t go into details about what kind of disorder she has (and it could be anything from eating too little or even too much), it doesn’t take an expert to realize that sports—as spectacle—tends to favor athletes who look a certain way, just because performance tends to correlate with weight, and sometimes, body fat. Scientific research has already shown that athletes, especially Olympians, are at a higher risk of taking on eating disorders due to the pressures of staying in competition shape.
slot machine online The curse of an “elite” physiqueIt doesn’t help that toxic discourse arises whenever someone looks “out of shape,” especially in high-intensity sports that demand elite conditioning and endurance. Oftentimes, some consider looking normal and healthy as “not being in shape.”
Considering Ruivivar has had the disorder for a while now, all of these factors surrounding elite sports may have resulted in her illness. Famous athletes such as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and the stories of lesser-known athletes such as former American football player Patrick Devenny prove that not only are top athletes not immune to eating disorders but also bear the brunt of the pressure to look good (to perhaps play good).
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While it’s easy to tell an athlete to not worry about their appearance so much (so long as they’re able to play well and are not truly unhealthy), the issue surrounding aesthetics is systemic. The aforementioned discourse, especially among non-athletes, about a player’s looks is deeply rooted in the environment of sports.
“If you show up to the league looking like a gladiator, you literally just made a couple hundred thousand dollars just by first impressions,” Devenny said in his story.
Hollywood has added another layer to this systemic problem with the rise of insane, otherworldly fitness regimens designed to make actors and actresses better resemble superheroes on the pages of comic books. As a result, everyone’s held to an impossible standard all the time, even when a lean, shredded look is never sustainable in the long term. Not even bodybuilders stay in single-digit body fat percentages all year round.
The irony is the mental fortitude needed to devote yourself to a strict diet and workout plan seems to be more needed to shake off the temptation of getting a superhero body. These stories—and Ruivivar’s own experiences—prove that a lot of times, that standard does more harm than goodThe irony is the mental fortitude needed to devote yourself to a strict diet and workout plan seems to be more needed to shake off the temptation of getting a superhero body. These stories—and Ruivivar’s own experiences—prove that a lot of times, that standard does more harm than good.
And for those going through it22win, while it may be hard to believe sometimes, always remember that an insanely good-looking body is not the be-all, end-all of life, especially as an athlete. Your mental health and sanity are more valuable than a low body fat percentage.