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).