**3. Athlete of three decades ago**

The second athlete is credentialed as a high school principal and participated in athletics during the 1980s. Her sport was both gymnastics and track and field. These two sports are at polar ends of the aesthetic perception of competition. Gymnastics, like ice skating, is a sport highly affected by the perceived beauty of the athlete and the aesthetic experience. The track, however, is based in being fleet of foot. Less weight is important because it is assumed one will run faster, but an athlete is not subjectively measured in track and field for beauty, but she is in gymnastics. In this case, Lisa is a petite women and a very beautiful woman as measured by general beauty standards. However, apparently, she too suffered from the struggles with the perception of beauty.

#### **3.1. Lisa**

As a young girl, growing up and having an athletic build was a blessing and a challenge. I began taking gymnastics lessons at the age of 8 years old. I ran into trouble in high school when it became painfully clear that my appearance was very different than the majority of my female classmates. I had strong, muscular legs which, to my peers, appeared not to be feminine. I remember going clothes shopping as a freshman in high school and finding it difficult to find jeans that fit my small 5′ 2″ athletic frame- small waist and muscular thighs and strong powerful bottom. This trouble of finding flattering clothes was only one of several social snags as a female athlete.

The other girls in high school gave me grief for not looking feminine. When I wore a dress my muscular calves stuck out below the hem and the calves, to them, were reminiscent of an adolescent boy. I overheard girls whispering in class about how big my thighs were and how "gross" they were to look at. Being in high school in the 80′s did not lend itself to embracing my type of body profile. Julia Roberts was one of Hollywood's "it" girls and my body was a far cry from her tall, slender frame.

A short time later, I recall being asked by a relative if the coaches gave gymnasts special pills to keep us small for competition. I had to explain to this grown man that, "No, we were not given special pills" and that the girls who reach the higher echelon of competition in gymnastics were there based on their skill, not their body size.

My gymnastics "career" came to an end around that time. At the former gym, I was considered small, however, when I moved to a bigger gym to train, I was told that I had grown too tall and did not have the right look. My hair was layered and hard to pull into the preferred ponytail. I did not wear the most up-to-date gymnastic attire, my 34 B chest was too big, and at 5′2″ I was taller than most of the gymnasts there. I decided to try a different sport and became a successful sprinter in track and field.

I always enjoyed the movement and strength that the sport of gymnastics brought to my life. It quickly became a large part of an identity that I happily embraced. It brought me years of enjoyment and satisfaction. While the negative sides of the sport were present, they did not dampen my enthusiasm for the sport.

Lisa left the sport because of "her size" and went on to be successful in track and field. Today, she still runs and is a healthy fit woman.
