British diver Tokyo 2020 gold medallist continues to surprise away from the diving board
Tom Daley’s new autobiography, in which he recounts many aspects of his personal life, will officially go on sale on 14 October. In the previews, the British diver confesses to a dark period with food and his own body. And so to a direct question from one of his fans – reported by The Guardian on Thursday – who asked him if it was “fair to say you’ve developed an eating disorder”, he didn’t back down and said that at that time in 2012, he struggled with guilt and shame for eating.
‘‘I weighed myself every day. I had a very strange relationship with food and my body image”.
Eating disorders are no longer a woman’s prerogative, in fact, many men also suffer from them, although it is difficult for everyone to face up to and admit to having a serious eating problem, as Daley himself pointed out.
Men don’t seem to have an eating disorder, and it’s hard to talk about it.
An eating disorder, albeit in a mild form caused – as Daley says – by his sport, particularly because he competes in briefs and therefore his body is in the public eye. A situation that also causes a sense of physical inadequacy, particularly at certain levels.
In 2012, a sports doctor told him that he had to lose weight because he was overweight and had to weigh himself every day. And all coordinated by his own coach at the time, Alexei Evangulov. A situation that led him to refuse food for several days, causing him to develop an eating disorder.
Tom Daley‘s complaint about weight-shamming has prompted British Swimming to draw up new rules on the weight of athletes, which will soon have to be followed by the various coaches.