Evie Richards, Britain’s first elite women’s mountain bike cross-country world champion and a Commonwealth champion in the same discipline, has revealed the physical and mental costs of reaching such heights.
“After leaving school at 16 to join the British Cycling Academy and focus on becoming a professional rider, my periods stopped,” Richards said in a wide-ranging BBC (opens in new tab) feature story. “In the following five years I only had three menstrual cycles, because I was over-training and not eating properly or enough.
“When I spoke to doctors I was told that losing your period was very common as a professional female athlete, and it was nothing out of the norm or something to worry about.”
In the years since, Richards learned that this is a symptom of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (Red-S), a condition that can affect men and women caused by insufficient caloric intake and/or excessive energy expenditure, according to a study released by the British Medical Journal. It can cause adverse effects to many parts of the body including the menstrual cycle, bone health, and cardiovascular health.
In an attempt to mould herself into a more traditional ‘climber’ physique, Richards also became obsessed with her weight.
“No-one ever told me that was unhealthy, apart from my mum. I remember one time when I came home having won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and she just said I looked like a bag of bones,” Richards said.
“I was always told I wasn’t built to be a climber, and thought people were probably right – but that just made me more competitive and obsessed with my weight to ensure I would be seen as being ‘small’ enough.
“That only stopped when I began putting work into changing my mindset, and my fuelling. When I became world champion, I showed everyone that I don’t need to be thin to be fast up the hills.”
By sharing her story, Richards hopes to set a good example for young aspiring female cyclists, teaching them to fuel properly and avoid eating disorders.
“I see some of the athletes I race against posting their weights on social media and it makes me angry because it is literally breaking some young girl’s heart – she will see that and chase after being that thin on the scales, like I did,” she said.
“I want to see lots of girls start cycling but more importantly I want lots of happy athletes and it doesn’t help when you see some people racing who look so ill. You race better when you’re happy…
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