Through a long career at the top of the world, Therese Johaug has witnessed alarming cases of promising athletes whose careers were ruined by issues related to food, body, and weight. She has also faced these challenges herself.

Now, she and several former ski stars are shedding light on what has been “an elephant in the room” and a challenge in sports culture for years.

The biggest challenge of her career

In last week’s episode of the podcast PowHER, which Johaug co-hosts with former cross-country stars Anna Jönsson Haag and Marthe Kristoffersen, food and eating issues were the focus. The ski queen opened up about what she described as the biggest challenge in her career, aside from her doping ban—struggling to eat enough and becoming too thin.

“At 18-20 years old, I started to have some problems with food,” she said, acknowledging that it could have had severe consequences for her career.

Many talents lost

Johaug also shared how she has seen several heartbreaking examples of promising talents whose potential was wasted due to these issues.

“You see many examples of girls who were strong with muscle mass, but suddenly they’ve lost weight. They ski very fast for a while, and then one or two years later, you don’t hear about them anymore,” Johaug said, pointing out that the transition from junior to senior is particularly vulnerable.

She believes there needs to be a cultural shift and efforts to promote healthy attitudes towards food, body, and weight in sports.

“Sports are about strength and explosiveness. You don’t ski fast with skinny arms and legs that lack muscles,” Johaug said on the podcast.

In her 2022 autobiography Therese Johaug – The Full Story, she spoke for the first time about her own struggles with weight.

15 million NOK awarded

Efforts are yielding results. The government has now allocated 15 million NOK (1.4 Million USD) to the Norwegian Sports Federation’s committee, which is working to combat eating disorders and body pressure in sports. This committee was established in 2023, and Johaug serves as an athlete representative.

The working group that Johaug is part of has begun developing an action plan for a safer sports environment and preventing body dissatisfaction and eating disorders.

The government will provide 5 million NOK annually for three years to support the fight against eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in sports.

Important openness from role models

Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery, emphasized the importance of openness from top athletes like Johaug in addressing these issues, making it easier to discuss personal and difficult topics and raising awareness among young athletes.

Read more: Diggins opens up about challenging summer: “Struggling with my eating disorder”