The Swedish ski star offers clear advice to young athletes who experience the absence of menstruation.
Thursday 28 March at 16:24
The short version
- Swedish ski star Ebba Andersson gives advice to young athletes about menstruation in her new book
- After an unsuccessful Olympics in Beijing, she admits to overtraining, which led to a lack of menstruation
- Andersson encourages young athletes to take signs of overtraining and menstrual problems more seriously
- After getting her period back, she won two WC golds in Planica
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In the book “From OS storm to WC gold”, which will be published on 30 April, the 26-year-old writes openly about how the lack of menstruation affected her performance.
After an unsuccessful Olympics in Beijing, where Andersson finished 8th in the 10 km classic, she realized that she had overtrained.
The national team doctor had warned of signs of overtraining already in 2021. In addition, Andersson had not had her period for several years, writes Aftonbladet.
– The first time it didn’t come, I reacted. It was a bit strange, but I understood that it is something that happens to many athletes. It is a natural mechanism if you push the body hard, so I found an acceptance in it. Not having a period is not strange. I could bear to train, ate what I needed and continued to develop, says Andersson to the Swedish newspaper.
Menstruation for top athletes
Marianne Strand-Udnæseth is a clinical nutritionist, and has, among other things, written this on the Swedish Sports Confederation’s website Sunn Idrett:
“Menstrual disorders affect many sports girls, and those who do endurance sports such as cross-country skiing, cycling and swimming and aesthetic sports such as dance and gymnastics are particularly at risk. Studies show that up to 65 per cent of long-distance runners have missed periods. This is a problem that needs to be taken seriously.
It is a myth that girls lose their periods because they exercise hard. Girls lose their periods because they don’t eat enough in relation to how hard they train and what the body needs. It is possible to train both a lot and intensively and at the same time maintain regular menstruation.”
“Those who experience that their periods become irregular or completely absent should take it seriously and seek help. A first step could be to talk to parents, coach or health nurse at school. Perhaps there has been an increased training load recently without a corresponding increase in energy intake?”
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– Then came the point. Søren, I “fire for the crow”. I invest so much time and effort and get so little effect. It was frustrating, she says.
The ski star says that she went to dietary guidance and to a gynaecologist, as well as talking for many hours with her mental coach.
Eventually she got her period back. The WC in Planica ended with two WC golds. Andersson had cracked the code.
She shares some tips with younger athletes who experience the absence of menstruation.
– Take it more seriously. I needed some kind of information, because people are busy developing. But if the period does not occur or is irregular, then it is a sign of something. What lies behind? I myself have experienced the effect of it becoming regular again, she says.
Tags: Ebba Andersson opens missing menstruation
