Even needlework was forbidden from top athlete
It took institutional care for Katja Rajaniemi to recover from severe over-exertion
By Petteri Ala-Kivimäki in Kittilä
Ski orienteer Katja Rajaniemi, 26, feels the cold easily.
"I froze when I skied down the downhill slope. I am not that warm-blooded", the petite Rajaniemi commented after the 10 km middle-distance event of the Ski Orienteering World Championships in Levi, which was held in chilly weather.
A couple of years ago, Rajaniemi felt much colder. She had whipped herself into a state of overtraining, which led to over-exertion and eating disorders. Rajaniemi lost ten kilos, weighing in at only 45 kg. It took two and a half months in psychiatric care to put an end to the vicious circle.
Her return to the top has been impressive: on Sunday, Rajaniemi was third in the World Championship sprint event, and yesterday she finished ninth over the middle distance.
"I have recovered, but I still need to be careful with my training. You do not recuperate after over-exertion as quickly as from the flu. I think I have learned to control that. Now I know when my exhaustion level is healthy", Rajaniemi explains.
After the Ski Orienteering World Championships in Bulgaria in 2002, Rajaniemi began to coach herself. Gradually, the relation between training and rest became warped.
"The first time symptoms appeared was around Christmas 2002. The autumn had gone downhill. I did not have enough time to recover from tough training sessions when I started on a new session. In a way I was training constantly. I did not get enough rest. I lost my sense of taste, I did not have an appetite, and I started to eat smaller meals", Rajaniemi recalls.
The wilting body was under extreme pressure.
"When I went jogging in sub-zero weather I started to feel cold, so I increased my speed to stay warm. I could not calm down at all. After my first competition, I was absolutely exhausted. I was beat, I did not have the strength to do anything."
Rajaniemi took a break. In the spring, she resumed her training. In the fall of 2003, the situation worsened. Her mind was weighed by her studies and missed training sessions.
"I had a huge need to train, and I pushed on aggressively. The exercising wore me out and my weight kept falling. I did not have the energy to focus on anything anymore."
Rajaniemi revealed in an interview with magazine Suunnistaja (”The Orienteer”) that her relationship with her parents grew tense once they became concerned about the health of their daughter.
"My parents and my friends were horrified when they looked at me. I was a skeleton, but I did not notice anything myself."
Rajaniemi eventually sought help at a student health centre, which directed her to the Oulu University Hospital. Rajaniemi spent two and a half months in a psychiatric home in the winter of 2003-2004.
"Exercising was limited, I was not allowed to go outside except for 15 minutes a day under supervision. I was not allowed to do anything with a purpose. Not even needlework, because I demand so much of myself."
Rajaniemi read magazines, watched television, and learned to eat again. The therapy worked, and it awakened a desire to be well again.
"Little by little I started to think about my own life, and the reasons for the over-exertion were revealed through discussions. Earlier I did not realize what was going on because I just kept on pushing ahead without stopping. Professionals knew how to put my thinking on the right track. I could not have done it myself", a grateful Rajaniemi says.
Rajaniemi's fate is not unheard of in the world of top athletes. After the article in Suunnistaja, she has been contacted by others who have suffered from the same problems.
"I have not had time to respond to them yet. But I plan to after these World Championships", promised Rajaniemi, a student of milieu design in Lahti.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 10.3.2005
PETTERI ALA-KIVIMÄKI / Helsingin Sanomat
petteri.ala-kivimaki@hs.fi
