The enormous pressure on elite athletes to maintain a lean figure could ultimately change the demographics of who can compete at the Olympics.
That’s according to New York Times sports reporter Karen Crouse, who broke the news that figure skater Adam Rippon succumbed to an eating disorder to maintain his body shape.
“The more it is about appearance, you’re going to get kids in the sport that are younger and younger. You have teenagers whose metabolism is still pretty high and they don’t have these weight issues,” she told Cheddar. “Maybe we are going to see in the future far fewer elite skaters that are 28 years old like Adam.”
Rippon, who won a bronze medal in this year’s Games, revealed to Crouse that he subsisted for a time on a daily diet of three slices of bread with a dab of “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter” and a couple cups of coffee.
He thought the longer, thinner frame would be more aesthetically pleasing to the judges. But a broken foot last year changed his mind.
“He actually thinks that one of the reasons he suffered this injury was that he wasn’t getting enough calcium and other nutrients, and that made his bones brittle,” Crouse said. “He’s now eating much better and actually is ten pounds heavier than he was two years ago when he won that national title. And if you look at him, he has an enviable body.”
Since his injury, Rippon has been workin with a nutritionist with the United States Olympic Committee who’s helped him develop healthier eating habits.
Serena Williams's altercation with a chair umpire during the U.S. Open final was just the latest example of women being treated differently than their male counterparts in the sport. But whether things change by the Australian Open in January, said the Washington Post's Cindy Boren, is hard to say.
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Randal Hill, a former NFL wide receiver, is optimistic even in the face of the protest controversy that has divided America. He told Cheddar Big News that one of the best things about sports leagues is how they can heal national wounds.
Rich Tamayo, the director of guest experience for the Baltimore Ravens, said that the changes being made for Ravens fans will "change the game in the way our fans experience the stadium." The Ravens start their season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Social live-streaming is today where social media was in the mid-2000s. At least that's what 21st Century Fox is betting. The CEO of Caffeine, which just took a $100 million investment from the media giant, is looking toward the future of the industry.
Todd Martin, the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, said he sees a possibility for an upset in the men's semifinal, but Serena Williams has it all but wrapped up on the women's side.
Nate Boyer, a former NFL player and Green Beret, is the man behind Colin Kaepernick's protests in 2016 when he suggested that the quarterback kneel instead of sit during the National Anthem as a sign of a respect. Two years later, Boyer believes people are missing the point of his protest and not listening to both sides of the issue.
Scooby Axson, a writer and producer for Sports Illustrated and an Army veteran, said that Pres. Trump is using Nike's Colin Kaepernick ad to stoke anger in his base.
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Brand consultant Allen Adamson said the companies that don't speak up in the age of social media, are doomed to become irrelevant. That's the bet Nike is making with its new campaign.
