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Hopeful: Louise Hazel is certain to compete alongside Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon at London 2012 Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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Exclusive: Jessica Ennis's team-mate Louise Hazel has labelled remarks about
Ennis's weight a disgrace and said she has been subjected to the same
treatment.
Hazel's comments come after Ennis's coach Tony Minichello claimed that an
unnamed "high-ranking person" within UK Athletics had described
the World No 2 as fat.
Hazel called the behaviour "disgraceful" and said that she had also
been subjected to negative comments about her weight by people in positions
of authority, including being told she was overweight.
The
revelations come soon after promising triathlete Hollie
Avil retired having admitted to an eating disorder brought on by a
comment about her weight from a coach.
Hazel, 26, said in relation to Minichiello’s claims: “I have experienced it
first hand, also from people within the organisation that was supposed to be
supporting us and I just think to a certain extent it is very disgraceful.
"When it comes to your weight there are certain ways to deal with it and
there are certain ways not to deal with it.
“Obviously there are a lot of young girls out there who would take this on board as a real critique of their physical wellness and that has really detrimental effects
She added: “It’s not a nice feeling to be called overweight or things like that”
“Some people think that you have to look like you are completely emaciated to actually be in physical shape and that’s not the truth.”
Hazel said that the comments had upset her, and she feared for other young girls who are aiming to become top athletes.
"My warning is that coaches, people in positions of authority need to choose their words very carefully when they are bringing up a subject like that," she said.
Hazel said she thinks the problem stems from ignorance, and that attitudes within athletics need to change.
“I think more than anything it’s just ignorance. I just think it is a shame that those issues of females and their weight is dealt with in a negative way as opposed to support in a positive way”
"They maybe need to look at measures and mechanisms to make sure that people don’t fall into bad eating habits .
"There needs to be more support rather than more criticism and it is as simple as that.”
Hazel, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said that Hollie Avil’s story was not unheard of among elite athletes.
She said: “There are a lot of girls even at the top of their sport that I think struggle with eating disorders but I think a lot of the time they are kept very much under wraps. How can you be seen to have an eating disorder and be an elite athlete?”
Hazel backed her team-mate to shake off the criticism.
“When Jessica is a world champion and performing as well as she does on a daily basis I don’t honestly think you can question what she does because whatever she does works.
"Jessica is an amazing role model and has got the perfect physical physique”.
On Friday Ennis laughed off the reports and said she was not going to let them bother her preparations for this weekend's World Combined Events Challenge in Gotzis.
"I think I came into this year expecting different things to happen, different articles and things like that," said Ennis.
"So I think if you come into it expecting those kind of things then it's not such a shock when you read things like that.
"I obviously see things. Things come up on Twitter and I read things. But I try not to focus too much on reading all the articles; just kind of get on with it, laugh it off really.
"It's not something I worry out. It's not something that's stressing me at the moment so I can kind of just brush it off and ignore it really."
“Obviously there are a lot of young girls out there who would take this on board as a real critique of their physical wellness and that has really detrimental effects
She added: “It’s not a nice feeling to be called overweight or things like that”
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Entertainer: Louise Hazel impressed at the World Athletics Championships recording a personal best in the hurdles Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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“Some people think that you have to look like you are completely emaciated to actually be in physical shape and that’s not the truth.”
Hazel said that the comments had upset her, and she feared for other young girls who are aiming to become top athletes.
"My warning is that coaches, people in positions of authority need to choose their words very carefully when they are bringing up a subject like that," she said.
Hazel said she thinks the problem stems from ignorance, and that attitudes within athletics need to change.
“I think more than anything it’s just ignorance. I just think it is a shame that those issues of females and their weight is dealt with in a negative way as opposed to support in a positive way”
"They maybe need to look at measures and mechanisms to make sure that people don’t fall into bad eating habits .
"There needs to be more support rather than more criticism and it is as simple as that.”
Hazel, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said that Hollie Avil’s story was not unheard of among elite athletes.
She said: “There are a lot of girls even at the top of their sport that I think struggle with eating disorders but I think a lot of the time they are kept very much under wraps. How can you be seen to have an eating disorder and be an elite athlete?”
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Photogenic: Louise Hazel posing for artist Rankin Photo: PA
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Hazel backed her team-mate to shake off the criticism.
“When Jessica is a world champion and performing as well as she does on a daily basis I don’t honestly think you can question what she does because whatever she does works.
"Jessica is an amazing role model and has got the perfect physical physique”.
On Friday Ennis laughed off the reports and said she was not going to let them bother her preparations for this weekend's World Combined Events Challenge in Gotzis.
"I think I came into this year expecting different things to happen, different articles and things like that," said Ennis.
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Pride: Louise Hazel won gold for England at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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"So I think if you come into it expecting those kind of things then it's not such a shock when you read things like that.
"I obviously see things. Things come up on Twitter and I read things. But I try not to focus too much on reading all the articles; just kind of get on with it, laugh it off really.
"It's not something I worry out. It's not something that's stressing me at the moment so I can kind of just brush it off and ignore it really."
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Toned: Jessica Ennis shows off her physique Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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