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The Pressure That Makes Olympians Perform Worse | Dominique Condo | TED

TED11:54Added Aug 30, 2026

Why do we celebrate appearance over ability in sports? Performance scientist Dominique Condo explores why so many elite female athletes — women with Olympic medals, world records and championship trophies — report body image concerns that end up hindering their performance. She offers a series of subtle shifts we can make to help any athlete stay focused on building strength, resilience and confidence. (Recorded at TEDxDeakin Uni Melbourne

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Contributed by 刘嘉琪

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  1. 00:044:35 am, the alarm goes off.
  2. 00:085 am, a 50K training ride.
  3. 00:126:30 am, a strength session,
  4. 00:16often fighting through muscle fatigue
  5. 00:18and sometimes even period cramps.
  6. 00:228 am, breakfast,
  7. 00:25with a nutrition plan calculated to the gram.
  8. 00:299 am, off work or university.
  9. 00:33Because many female athletes
  10. 00:35juggle jobs or study with their sporting careers.
  11. 00:40Now that's a fairly typical morning for many elite female athletes.
  12. 00:46Strong,
  13. 00:47disciplined, driven
  14. 00:50and constantly measured.
  15. 00:53Isn't the female body extraordinary?
  16. 00:58It adapts.
  17. 01:00It endures.
  18. 01:01It creates life.
  19. 01:05It recovers from injury, responds to training
  20. 01:08and achieves feats of skill, strength and power
  21. 01:11once thought impossible.
  22. 01:13And yet, in 2025,
  23. 01:16women are still judged more for how they look
  24. 01:18than for what they can do.
  25. 01:21Judged more for how they look
  26. 01:25than for what they can do.
  27. 01:27At the top of their game,
  28. 01:29up to 70 percent of elite female athletes report body image concerns.
  29. 01:34You heard me, up to 70 percent.
  30. 01:37Now this is women with Olympic medals,
  31. 01:39premiership trophies, world records,
  32. 01:41and still they feel the pressure to look a certain way,
  33. 01:46which is often at direct opposition with how they need to build their bodies
  34. 01:50for competitive success.
  35. 01:54Now this topic is such a passion of mine
  36. 01:56because I live and work in this space every day.
  37. 02:00I am surrounded by some of the most intelligent, hard working,
  38. 02:05resilient women in sport.
  39. 02:09Women who can outrun,
  40. 02:10outlift and outthink most people in the room,
  41. 02:14and yet they battle a world that comments on their appearance
  42. 02:18before their capability.
  43. 02:21How is this fair, I ask you.
  44. 02:26At the top of her game at world number one,
  45. 02:28Ash Barty walked away,
  46. 02:29choosing to define success on her own terms.
  47. 02:34Elite Olympic gymnast Simone Biles reminded the world
  48. 02:37that mental and physical well-being are performance foundations,
  49. 02:41not weaknesses.
  50. 02:43And here in Australia, AFLW players are juggling work,
  51. 02:47study and public commentary about how they look in their uniform
  52. 02:51when all they want to do is play.
  53. 02:54Why is this still happening?
  54. 02:57Why are we so comfortable judging athletes on aesthetics?
  55. 03:02And what are we going to do about it?
  56. 03:05Now this talk isn’t just about elite athletes.
  57. 03:08It's about what happens when performance and appearance collide.
  58. 03:12Yes, in sport,
  59. 03:14but also in schools, in workplaces,
  60. 03:17and even in our own homes.
  61. 03:20When we celebrate appearance over capability,
  62. 03:23we send that message to our daughters,
  63. 03:26our sons and our colleagues
  64. 03:29that how we look matters more than what we do.
  65. 03:31And that doesn't just hold athletes back.
  66. 03:34That holds all of us back.
  67. 03:38So to start to make a real difference,
  68. 03:40we have to understand where the pressure and commentary comes from
  69. 03:43in the first place.
  70. 03:45Now let's talk about the sources of pressure.
  71. 03:48Some are external.
  72. 03:50The uniform that feels exposing,
  73. 03:52the commentator that talks about how she looks
  74. 03:55before how she plays,
  75. 03:56the constant scrolling through social media of the perfect body.
  76. 04:01And others are internal.
  77. 04:04The comparison of skin folds between teammates.
  78. 04:07The coach that says, "You need to be leaner"
  79. 04:10with very little context.
  80. 04:13And the athlete herself, chasing unattainable goals.
  81. 04:18And then there is language,
  82. 04:21the invisible force that can fuel or fracture performance.
  83. 04:27I once worked with an athlete
  84. 04:29who crumbled after being told, “You’re too heavy to compete.”
  85. 04:34That same athlete later thrived
  86. 04:36when the conversation was reframed
  87. 04:38to “Improving your repeat sprint ability will give you a competitive edge.
  88. 04:44Let's get to work on a training and fueling program
  89. 04:47and make that happen."
  90. 04:51In sport and in life,
  91. 04:53language is not just communication,
  92. 04:56it's a performance tool.
  93. 04:59Research has shown that even subtle word choices
  94. 05:01from coaches, parents and peers
  95. 05:04can significantly impact an athlete’s confidence, motivation
  96. 05:09and even risk of disordered eating.
  97. 05:12The words that we use are the stories that athletes tell themselves.
  98. 05:19Now I'm going to talk about quite a taboo topic of physique.
  99. 05:24Now I know this might be controversial, but here we go.
  100. 05:28Physique matters.
  101. 05:31At the highest level,
  102. 05:33different sports require different builds.
  103. 05:36Lean mass for power in football,
  104. 05:38strength-to-weight ratio in gymnastics,
  105. 05:41lighter frames for endurance.
  106. 05:43So no,
  107. 05:44in elite sport, we should not ban body composition assessment
  108. 05:48because if used correctly, it is an invaluable performance tool.
  109. 05:53However, the damage occurs
  110. 05:56when those numbers are used as an identity.
  111. 05:59The public weigh ins,
  112. 06:01the comparison between teammates
  113. 06:03when measurement is used as punishment.
  114. 06:07That's when science becomes shame.
  115. 06:10And we've all seen the fallout.
  116. 06:13Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam champion,
  117. 06:16was told her power made her look too muscular.
  118. 06:21AFLW player Tayla Harris was body shamed
  119. 06:24for an image that should have been celebrated
  120. 06:27as pure athletic brilliance.
  121. 06:30And even Olympic champion Emma McKeon
  122. 06:32has spoken openly about the pressure of appearance in swimming.
  123. 06:37So the take home?
  124. 06:38Yes, physique and performance may be linked,
  125. 06:42but appearance should never overshadow capability.
  126. 06:48So what happens when the balance tips the wrong way?
  127. 06:51Well, athletes can under-fuel.
  128. 06:54And from here, we see the cascade of events.
  129. 06:57Hormonal dysregulation,
  130. 06:59menstrual dysfunction,
  131. 07:00fatigue, bone loss, slower recovery.
  132. 07:03The result?
  133. 07:05Performance declines,
  134. 07:06strength plateaus, injuries mount.
  135. 07:10And this isn't just specific to athletes.
  136. 07:14Think about your own life.
  137. 07:17When was the last time you skipped a meal,
  138. 07:20trained exhausted or didn't sleep well?
  139. 07:23Did you perform better?
  140. 07:26Well neither do they.
  141. 07:28Except their livelihoods depend on it.
  142. 07:32Prolonged low-energy availability has been shown to reduce power output,
  143. 07:36endurance capability and decision making.
  144. 07:39And that is why we cannot separate body image from performance.
  145. 07:46So is this all doom and gloom, or how do we fix it?
  146. 07:50Well we build environments that are performance-focused
  147. 07:54and athlete-centered.
  148. 07:56So what does that mean?
  149. 07:58Well it means education
  150. 07:59in fueling, in energy availability, in menstrual health,
  151. 08:03and not just for athletes.
  152. 08:05For coaches as well.
  153. 08:07It means individualization
  154. 08:09because optimal body composition is specific to the individual athlete.
  155. 08:16Language protocols that are private,
  156. 08:19functional and constructive.
  157. 08:22And choice in testing,
  158. 08:24in uniform and in timing.
  159. 08:28And here's the thing.
  160. 08:30When we do these things, performance improves.
  161. 08:34I've seen teams transform.
  162. 08:37Confidence rises, engagement lifts,
  163. 08:40results follow.
  164. 08:42And this is not about lowering standards
  165. 08:45or wrapping athletes up in cotton wool.
  166. 08:48It's about raising awareness so we can pursue that excellence safely,
  167. 08:53intelligently and sustainably.
  168. 08:57Now some sports are leading the way in this space.
  169. 08:59IOC safe sport initiatives
  170. 09:01and professional organizations like Swimming Australia,
  171. 09:04who have invested in education, language training
  172. 09:07and measurement standards.
  173. 09:09But it takes everyone,
  174. 09:11coaches, administrators and the public.
  175. 09:16Now you might still be sitting there thinking, really?
  176. 09:19What does this have to do with me?
  177. 09:22Again, this is not just about elite sport.
  178. 09:26All of us have felt the weight of appearance in some way.
  179. 09:31For women, that might be to be smaller, thinner, more feminine.
  180. 09:36For men it may be to be taller, bigger, more masculine.
  181. 09:42Think about it.
  182. 09:44When was the last time you compared yourself in the mirror,
  183. 09:48at the gym or online?
  184. 09:52Praised for losing weight
  185. 09:53when no one is actually asking if you're happy or healthy?
  186. 09:58Or took 20 photos before posting one
  187. 10:00because you didn't like the way you looked?
  188. 10:04Now imagine that pressure times by a thousand.
  189. 10:07Your body constantly scanned, discussed
  190. 10:11and linked directly to your contract.
  191. 10:15And men aren't immune to this either.
  192. 10:18Research has shown that male athletes
  193. 10:20and teenagers also struggle with body image.
  194. 10:23Maybe not to be thinner,
  195. 10:25but to be broader, stronger, more muscular, more defined.
  196. 10:30Different pressure,
  197. 10:31same story.
  198. 10:34The reality is, we're all living under performance expectations
  199. 10:38shaped by appearance.
  200. 10:40But for young women getting into sport out there,
  201. 10:42I want you to know
  202. 10:43your body is not the barrier to success.
  203. 10:47It is the vehicle that will get you there.
  204. 10:51So what's the takeaway?
  205. 10:53That it's time to redefine female performance
  206. 10:56not by size, shape or aesthetics,
  207. 10:59but by power, capability, confidence and resilience.
  208. 11:05For coaches and parents,
  209. 11:07use language that builds.
  210. 11:09For teachers, focus on effort and progress.
  211. 11:13For fans, celebrate strength and courage and not appearance.
  212. 11:18And for friends and colleagues,
  213. 11:19notice when you praise looks over capability.
  214. 11:23Because words shape beliefs,
  215. 11:25beliefs shape behaviors,
  216. 11:28and behaviors shape performance.
  217. 11:31When we shift the conversation, we don't just create healthier athletes,
  218. 11:36we create stronger performances.
  219. 11:39And outside of sport,
  220. 11:40we create a society where women feel free to show up unapologetically,
  221. 11:46just as they are,
  222. 11:48and still perform at their best.
  223. 11:50Thank you.
  224. 11:51(Applause)
The Pressure That Makes Olympians Perform Worse | Dominique Condo | TED — Transcriptly