'My performance director told me I needed to look like I did when I was 14 - I was nearly 18': Tom Daley opens up on eating disorder
Former Olympic diver Tom Daley has revealed he felt "felt very alone" as he battled an eating disorder at the height of his sports career.
Tom Daley "felt very alone" as he battled an eating disorder.
The former Olympic diver, 30, has revealed he struggled with body image issues at the height of his sports career when he was just a teenager and it manifested itself in "body dysmorphia and bulimia".
He told Fashion magazine: "I had moments of real struggle. I didn’t think anything of it when I was younger, but in 2011, my performance director told me that I was overweight and that I needed to look like I did when I was 14 - I was nearly 18 at the time.
"That was the first time I felt like somebody was looking at my body - not from a performance point of view but by what it looked like. So, yeah, around that time, I struggled with all kinds of different issues around body dysmorphia and bulimia."
When asked if social media has increased pressure on athletes to look a certain way, Tom replied: "It’s increased in certain ways, but there is a lot more support.
"Also, there’s so much more information about how to fuel your body correctly. Back when I was struggling, it was not something that men talked about. It was like: ‘Well, that only happens to girls.’ So I felt very alone in that experience."
