Marion Bartoli

http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2013/07/04/marion-bartoli-se-hisse-en-finale-de-wimbledon_3442536_3242.html

My French is not good, but that looks a lot like "great in offense, intractable in defense, impeccable in service, the French lass lost 3 tiny games against Flipkens, who wandered the courts like a ghost..."

Wouldn't it be reasonable for an athlete's fitness and preparation/training to be questioned if they appear to be carrying too much weight (in the form of fat)?

The Brazillian footballer Ronaldo was remarkably chubby compared to his peers - maybe he would have been even better if he had worked harder on his diet and training?
His appearance was frequenlty commented on so it's not just a female athlete thing although I agree it's regretably more often a cross that female athletes have to bear if they don't happen to be both slim and pretty.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3771716/Top-10-fat-footballers.html

Calling her ugly though is disgusting - reminds me of the comedy sketch where two slobs in a pub say "hasn't Britney Spears let herself go"?

Except that many people's definition of "too fat" is actually perfectly healthy. There is no way that Marion Bartoli is carrying too much fat, or enough fat to harm her performance. In fact it tends to go the other way, i.e. carrying too little fat can actually be a disadvantage in some sports. Powerlifters and other strength athletes tend to have higher body fat percentages than in other sports, because in order to develop an extreme level of strength, you have to gain muscle. To gain muscle you need to eat at a surplus, and that means gaining fat as well. If they cut to lose the fat, they also lose muscle with it, and with that comes a loss in strength. So up to a point, more body fat is inevitable if you are training to be as strong as you possibly can. BTW by carrying more body fat, I don't mean it's necessary to become obese... just that if you want to be a power lifter, you'll be stronger when your body fat percentage is in the higher end of the healthy range.

That's not the only example, but it is the case that cutting body fat below a certain level is purely about aesthetics, not about health or athletic performance. Ripped abs will not make you good at any sport, and in some sports, eating at a calorie deficit to achieve ripped abs will harm your athletic performance. If you eat and train for optimal performance, most athletes won't end up with ripped abs. Some will, because that's their body type, or having very low body fat is an advantage in their sport (e.g. long distance running).

It's a myth that very low body fat is the most healthy and athletic way to be. Most female fitness models have around 15% body fat, which is what level you usually need to have visible abs and muscle definition. Female body builders may cut as low as 13% body fat...... yet the healthy body fat percentage range for women is actually 18-28%. And optimal performance in most sports will mean having a body fat percentage in the healthy range, not the ripped abs/fitness model/bodybuilder range. That applies for both men and women, although the actual ranges are different because women carry more essential body fat than men.

So while actually being over-fat (28%bf+) or obese (35%bf+) probably will harm your performance in sports (other than possible exceptions like sumo wrestling) - what society expects people, women especially, to look like is not actually the most healthy amount of body fat, or the amount for optimal athletic ability (although it depends on the sport). Marion Bartoli probably plays tennis better with the amount of fat that she has, than she would if she continued to train while eating at a deficit to get her body fat percentage down to 15%, because her ability to train would suffer, and her ability to perform and play well with it. Probably not by much, but by enough to cost her in international tournaments. And she would get no health benefit from it whatsoever, as her body fat percentage is in the healthy range, and there's no health benefit to being 15% body fat as opposed to 25% body fat, in fact for some women their health will suffer from that.

Who gives a damn what any misinformed ignoramus journalist writes? She looks healthy and strong to me, we need more women in the public arena who look like this, I bet there's a lot of men out there who appreciate the sight of Marions' luscious bod flying around the tennis courts.

French women don't get fat because they don't eat and they smoke. Bartoli looks like a healthy, attractive athlete to me. I long ago stopped thinking that French women are automatically experts in manners of style and appearance. Sports coverage is sexist, as are many things in the world. Not enough people seem to care.

French women don't get fat because they don't eat and they smoke.