Tennis champion turned sports commentator, Jelena Dokic, has sent a blunt message to trolls for their “body shaming” comments: “GET OVER IT. Leave me and my physical appearance alone.”
The former world number four uploaded a composite image of herself, which she described as “pre-covid vs. now”.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Dokic confessed that during Melbourne’s lockdown she struggled with her mental health and gained some weight as a result.
“It was very hard mentally for me in the world’s toughest lockdown for 6 months and not being able to see my loved ones for 15 months,” Dokic wrote on Instagram.
“I have even had some depression and anxiety creep back up and it’s been a battle,” she added.
Dokic said that comments about her weight were inherently sexist and questioned whether male athletes receive the same treatment.
“I really don’t know why people and the media have the need to comment on someone’s physical appearance, especially when it comes to women,” Dokic wrote on Instagram.
“How about a bit of kindness? How about a message asking me how I am doing? Instead of talking about my weight, why don’t you talk about all my accomplishments? Does my weight determine my worth?”
Professor Holly Thorpe, from the ’s School of Health, said in the age of social media, female athletes’ bodies are undergoing increased surveillance and policing.
Jelena Dokic during a training session in Fribourg, Switzerland, in February 2012. Source: Keystone
She said her “female athletes who have more and more pressure to be visible on social media are being trolled and [there’s] online abuse and body shaming,” Professor Thorpe said.
“It's kind of amplified these pressures on female athletes and some athletes have been increasingly speaking out about the sort of abuse that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.”
Professor Thorpe said her research has shown that many high-performance, elite sporting cultures are prioritising women's athletic performance over long-term health and wellbeing.
“Some of our research has looked at what we've called toxic sporting cultures where women are told to lose weight for performance reasons, which is actually not always scientifically proven,” she said.
“Often athletes don't know where to place that pressure, and they just internalise it and say, ‘I'm just putting this pressure on myself’. That can translate to disordered eating practices and various other types of conditions.”
Dokic started playing tennis at just six years of age and retired from tennis in 2014 after sustaining injuries.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist has been vocal about her health journey, shedding nearly 40kg in 2019 after reaching her peak weight of 120kg.
Professor Thorpe said elite athletes often struggle with their sense of identity post-retirement.
Once elite athletes hit retirement, the changes to their lifestyle can be drastic. Professor Thorpe said a sportsperson may go from training all day and following a strict, regimented diet to working, studying, or focusing on their family life.
“Their routines change quite significantly. Often with retirement, athletes’ bodies change and that can be really hard,” Professor Thorpe said.
“Anxiety can be induced when we feel like our bodies don't measure up to particular expectations.”
Professor Thorpe said that while sporting organisations often offer players workshops on how to manage their personal brand on social media, more support must be given to athletes.
“Sports organisations need to do better in terms of providing young female athletes with the tools to be conscious and kind of critical consumers and producers of media and social media,” she said.
“Now I think, with athletes posting this stuff, being unapologetic about their bodies, we are seeing more diversity, and I think that's wonderful for the next generation of female athletes and women around the world."
But it’s not without risk. Citing her research, she added: “But a lot of those athletes who are on the frontline in terms of pushing those boundaries are experiencing social pushback on them.”
