Eating disorders weigh heavily on the world of figure skating

Growing number of athletes revealing struggles with debilitating psychological issues

TOKYO/MOSCOW - Japanese figure skater Akiko Suzuki was struggling with jumps when her coach said losing a kilogram could help. Instead, in two months she lost nearly a third of her body weight, putting her career - and her life - in danger.

Too weak to skate, she was diagnosed with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Her weight had fallen from 48 kg to 32 kg on her 160cm (5-foot-3) frame.