Female gymnast are often dissatisfied with their bodies, and considere themselves to be fat, all despite the fact that there body weight, BMI and body fat percentage are low, they felt that even a slight increase in their body weight would result negatively for performance (Harris & Grecco, 1990). elite female gymnasts dieting was more a result of weight related attributors or perceived weight pressures from their coaches rather than negative body image (Thompson & Sherman, 2010) showing the influence that a coach can place on an athlete. within a study by Moriarty and Moriarty (1994) it was reported that 67% of those who dieted for performance were told to do so by a coach also stating that allegedly it was coaches’ comments to gymnast Christy Henrich indicating she had to watch her weight which triggered her dieting and eating disorder which in the end claimed her life (July 1984). another study by Rosen & Hough (1988) reported that 75% of female gymnasts who were told by coaches that they were too heavy and so used pathogenic weight control. this shows how exsternal forces such as the coach may drive athletes to lose as much weight as possible, by whatever means possible, as they may dread the alternative (to remain heavier than the ideal/ and not gonform to the norms of the subculture or the sports ethic). In turn, such practices become normalized for athletes and accepted as ‘regimes of truth’ created and fuelled by the discursive actions of coaches (Chapman, 1997: 206).

There is strong and consistent evidence that eating disorders are prevalent In sport, especially in weight sensitive sport such as endurance, weight category and aesthetic sports (Currie, 2010). this shows that the subculture of gymnastics is not the only sport to produce exstream weight measures as an act of overconformint, but may also stem from other lean sports. Lean sports include those for which a thin or lean body or a low weight is required to provide an advantage in sports performance or in the judging of sport performance. Some include gymnastics, figure skating long distance running, diving, body building, martial arts, wrestling and weight lifting. Lean sports have often been classified as weight class or weight dependent, aesthetic (judged) or endurance sports (Beals,2004),and are said to possess the highest use of weight loss methods (Sundgot-Borgen, 1993). Research with weight class sports suggests that the risk of disordered eating in such sports is higher than in non-weight class sports (Hagmar et al, 2008, Sundgot-Borgen & Torstveit 1993).

Maguire (2004) identifies how the industrial sports complex may also interweave with the sports ethic, and elaborates on how over conformity may be a result of being tied to grater networks of power. This could apply to athletes who are tied to sponsorship, or a  be a result of a nation’s quest for excellence, as this will all impact conformity to the sports ethic.

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