Elite athletes reminded to get educated on food and nutrition
Australian 54-kilogram boxing champion Tiana Echegaray has had a rapid rise since starting the sport in 2019 and will make her Olympic debut in Paris.
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00:00 Tiana Ichagirre is now one of Australia's fiercest fighters.
00:07 But when the 30-year-old started, something was holding her back from reaching her full potential.
00:14 Before I had a nutritionist, I was definitely under-fuelling and I think it was mainly just because I was trying to keep an eye on my weight.
00:21 I was just training very dehydrated, fatigued, lacked a lot of energy in my sessions.
00:29 I was just focused on the work and just trying to work hard in the sessions as best as I could and thought,
00:33 "You know what, if I'm feeling so terrible, it's because I'm just not working hard enough."
00:37 It's common for athletes to not eat enough to match their output, which can lead to energy deficiency.
00:43 It has a whole host of health and performance detriments that can come with it.
00:47 So things like menstrual cycle, bone health, stress fractures, gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating, constipation, and immune down-regulation.
00:57 So athletes can be more at risk of getting sick.
01:00 Then on the performance side of things, you can also see a reduction in endurance, strength, training response as well.
01:06 Athletes also need to understand what nutrients to eat and to ignore stigmas.
01:12 Around when I was about 16 to say 21, I was really strict with what carbs I was putting into my body,
01:19 which I actually look at now and it actually really didn't work for me.
01:23 There's so many negative connotations on carbohydrates, they're going to make you fat, they're going to make you swollen, they're going to make you bloated,
01:28 where in fact it actually really helps with recovery.
01:31 I think in terms of talking about food, we want to try and avoid black and white thinking.
01:34 So food's being labelled as good or food's being labelled as bad.
01:38 The amount of food and timing of meals is key too.
01:42 But while elite athletes may have access to that information, it doesn't always filter down to younger competitors.
01:49 I know that some of these younger girls, they probably have no idea what to eat on a game day or what to eat for breakfast.
01:54 But when they do get educated on it, their performance is going to be a lot better.
01:59 Iron deficiency affects many sports women, including Ichigire,
02:03 and there are added challenges for athletes in weight-based sports like boxing.
02:08 I think you really have to start early when it comes to making weight.
02:11 You don't want the fight to be about making weight and against the scales.
02:16 You want the fight to be about the fight itself and what you're going to do in the ring.
02:21 My biggest recommendation here is to seek advice from a sports nutrition credentials professional.
02:27 I can see how people can develop a really unhealthy relationship with food
02:30 because if we're consistently counting calories and having that at the forefront of our mind,
02:36 we become so obsessive about everything that we're eating.
02:41 I think I've managed it pretty well.
02:43 I think the biggest thing is just really communicating how you're feeling about these things
02:46 because you'll find that a lot of people in the sport have experienced the same thing.
02:50 Ichigire will make her Olympic debut in Paris,
02:54 knowing she's done everything she can to perform at her peak.
02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]