Jessie Diggins draws strength (and enemies) from ESPN Body Issue

Afton's native, Jessie Diggins, does not care about enemies. Not anymore.

That's something the gold medalist of the 2018 Winter Olympics wants to bring out after posing in the ESPN Body Issue issue for a series of photos published with great taste this week.

"There will always be enemies who will tell us what we can and can not do with our bodies, and it is not up to them to do it," said the 26-year-old Nordic skier at the time. a telephone interview with Pioneer Press. "Everyone has their own reason to be part of it, I decided to do it because, for me, it was a great moment to be proud of my body." C & # 39; was celebrating this more than anything else. "

This was not always the case for Diggins, something that she opened in a very personal blog post published the day the ESPN body number came out. She wrote about her difficulties in growing up with body image problems, revealing that she was suffering from a eating disorder after graduating from school. Stillwater's secondary, and finally asked Emily program help for her recovery.

For this reason, Diggins admitted that there was a flood of emotions when it was initially tackled on the pose for ESPN. She was not sure what to feel, and perhaps more pressing, was not sure what she would feel if she decided to do it.

"At first, I was very worried," she said. "It's something I never thought I'd have to do and I guess one part of me was nervous that doing it would bring back some of those insecurities."

In the end, Diggins decided that posing was a chance to inspire other people who might have similar body image problems.

"I have the impression that everyone in the world has felt a little worried about their appearance," she said. "It's a universal thing, so it's important not to feel that negative stigma about it, I have the impression that we have to start celebrating what our bodies can do rather than to feel in a certain way our body. "

After studying the ESPN body issue before making its decision, Diggins also noticed a distinct trend with the way male athletes who posed are viewed in relation to female athletes. More often than not, she supposed, a male athlete was praised for his participation, while a female athlete was criticized.

"It's a double standard so crazy that suddenly we're not a model when we want to be proud of our bodies," she said. "It was another thing that made me," Yeah. I really want to do this: "We will not solve the body image problems by not speaking, so I hope it will actually open the conversation."

Diggins was eager to participate in the photo shoot, but working with an all-female support staff helped her feel more comfortable.

"I had a request," she said. "I did not want the photos to be sexy, I wanted the pictures to be bad, they had to be powerful and show the joy of the sport.

"It ended up being incredibly stimulating, I felt strong and confident, and I was able to kiss my muscles, I'm really glad I did."

Diggins said the comments were extremely positive. She also had a lot of people reaching out on social media regarding her blog that coincided with the ESPN body number.

"I went into this thinking maybe I would help someone," Diggins said. "Just to see the number of people looking to reach was great, that's exactly why I decided to do something like this."

One can expect a negative reaction on social media, which Diggins rejects at this point.

"I have the impression that this experience has made me even stronger by saying," I do not care what these people think of me, "she said. will always have people who will find something to hate. All the people I am closest to have supported me throughout this process. That's the only thing that matters to me. I do not need to worry about what a 40 year old man sitting in his basement displays on my Instagram. It really does not matter. "