Some Female Olympians Say They're Judged More On Looks Than On Athletic Skill

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Some Female Olympians Say They’re Judged More On Looks Than On Athletic Skill

We’re thinking Gabby Douglas would agree with this gripe right about now…

American weightlifter Holley Mangold tips the scales at 346 pounds (157 kilograms) and she is proud of being the heaviest woman at the London Olympics.

Mangold, 22, who competed in the women’s 75 kilogram-plus division, is one of growing number of women athletes speaking out at their frustration with the public scrutiny of their body size and image rather than their fitness and skills.

At the 2012 Olympics, a list of top female athletes have hit back at critics who have called them fat including British heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, Australian swimmer Liesel Jones, and the Brazilian women’s soccer team.

British weightlifter Zoe Smith won fans when she hit back at attacks on Twitter saying she looked like a “lesbian” and a “bloke”, addressing her critics as “chauvinistic, pigheaded blokes who feel emasculated (as) we .. are stronger than them”.

The Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), a UK charity aiming to get more women into sport to build self-esteem and confidence, said only 12 percent of British girls at age 14 were doing enough exercise to meet recommended guidelines.

WSFF Chief Executive Sue Tibballs said their research found negative body image was consistently cited as a barrier for girls participating in exercise as popular culture gave out the message it was more important to be thin than fit.

Quite interesting that weightlifting often requires these women to be this size…..and then they are criticized for it.

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Image via Wenn