'Have refuge in food': Caroline Garcia opens up about bulimia
Caroline Garcia (WTA No. 4) has struggled with health problems in recent years.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 08, 2023, 12:13 pm
Caroline Garcia was one of the players over the past six months, crowned by winning the WTA Finals in Fort Worth. Garcia is back in the top five in the world as it was a few years ago - but in between are difficult times for the Frenchwoman.
As she explained to the French sports newspaper L'Équipe these days, Garcia suffered from bulimia. This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
She tried to close the void when things weren't going well on the tennis court, Garcia said. "Everyone is different. Some people stop eating, for me it was the opposite. I took refuge in food."
Garcia had fallen out of the top 50 in 2021.
"In tennis you spend a lot of time alone"
The stress of not getting what you want on the pitch, not winning anymore, suffering physically... "You feel so empty, so sad that you have to fulfill yourself (otherwise)." The food calmed her down for a few minutes. Of course, everyone knows that doesn't help, "but it was an escape route. When you're alone, it's harder to control. In tennis, you spend a lot of time alone in your room. That's often what happened."
Sharing her problems with others helped her, Garcia said. "You start to understand that if it happens, it's not the end of the world."
Since she's been taking more time for herself, everything is happening less often, "and when it happens, I accept it more often and don't feel so guilty anymore."
She was too hard on herself at that time, belongs to the people who weigh themselves on the gram. Now she treats herself to something more regularly and thus avoids bigger problems. "If I feel like pizza for two days now, I'll eat a pizza."