Olympic Gymnast Cathy RigbyThe world of competitive gymnastics is, as one movie explains not known as “gym-NICE-stics.” Competition is tough, the demands are great and the sport has produced some of the most inspiring athletes in sport: Nadia Comaneci, Nikolai Andrianov, Larissa Latynina, Mary Lou Retton and Bart Conner, not to mention two of my friends Melissa Marlowe and Debbie-Stark Clark.

Gymnastics, as incredible as it is, has also led to heart-breaking problems for some of its athletes. Just ask Olympic gymnast, actress and speaker Cathy Roxanne Rigby.

Born on December 12, 1952 in Los Alamitos, California, Rigby’s family was supportive of her gymnastics from an early age. Her father even built a balance beam and set of uneven bars for Cathy in their backyard (how’s that for parental support?). Under the guidance of her coach, Bud Marquette, Rigby developed her young body and skills into an award-winning combination that eventually won her 12 international medals, eight of them gold. She was even named one of America's Most Influential Women in Sports by ABC-TV's Wide World of Sports.

Known as “America’s Sweetheart of Gymnastics”, Rigby made 1968 Mexico City Olympic team for the United States and ended up the highest-scoring U.S. gymnast at the Games. She went on to win the U.S. National Gymnastic Championships in 1970 and 1972 and won silver on the balance beam at the 1970 World Championships. Just F.Y.I: that made her the first American woman to ever win a medal at World’s.

This amazing woman went on to compete for the U.S. at the 1972 games in Munich, Germany alongside my friend, gymnast Debbie-Stark Clark. Unfortunately, as can happen with any athlete at any time, injury hampered her performance. Rigby still did well and had a great showing at the Games, but retired in after Munich without an Olympic medal.

Leaving gymnastics behind, Cathy went on to lead a very successful career in acting on screen and in the theater. She appeared on stage in “The Wizard of Oz”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Peter Pan” and countless others. She has also appeared on numerous TV shows including “The Six Million Dollar Man” and worked for ABC Sports as a commentator for over 18 years.

Sounds like a perfect life doesn’t it? It often seems that way on the outside for most people we know, but on the inside there may be tough battles that are tearing them apart.

For Cathy Rigby, the battle was bulimia, an eating disorder that According to a People Magazine interview in 1991, "twice (Rigby) was hospitalized and nearly died from electrolyte imbalance."

Rigby in training"We didn't know very much about nutrition. Neither did the coaches," Rigby said. Cathy weighed around 94 pounds and was eating one meal a day to maintain her weight. On a side note, my friend Debbie who competed alongside Cathy told me that some gymnasts followed the red licorice rule. She said, "you eat some red licorice first, then eat everything you want. Then when you went to throw it up, once you saw the red licorice you knew you were done." Awful, right?

One night the team went out for pizza to celebrate and Rigby had three pieces before she panicked about the next day’s weigh-in. She knew that one girl on the team was taking laxatives and another girl said she threw up everything she ate. That night Cathy tried the latter method. "When I hit puberty and went up to about 104 pounds two or three months later, I worked a little harder at either starving myself or becoming bulimic."

She continued:

"I wanted to be perfect in my attitude and in my weight. Inside I was going crazy. I probably consumed 10,000 calories a day or more in fast foods. I can tell you where every McDonald's and Jack in the Box was along the way (to my voice lessons) -- and every bathroom where I could get rid of the food."

Her battle with bulimia would continue after she retired from the sport and ravage her life. The struggle is a serious one that affects thousands upon thousands of men and women around the world and Rigby spends much of her time today speaking out against the dangers of body-image disorders. It wasn’t until she remarried in 1981 that Rigby felt she was able to truly fight back and begin the healing process. Through the love of her children and her second husband, Tom McCoy, Rigby left the bulimia behind and found deeper happiness and fulfillment in life.

Rigby today, a champion for healthy choicesCathy Rigby is often remembered as the bright-eyed, blonde haired gymnast who won America’s hearts on the beam and on the bars. She is recognized as a champion for her national and international medals and her two-time Olympian status. And those things are amazing accomplishments, no one can dispute that.

But in my eyes, Cathy Rigby is a world champion because she never gave up, she never stopped fighting and she was strong enough to seek out the help she needed. And now, this great woman uses her time reaching out to educate and save.

She was powerful in the sport, but her greatest power is her desire to help others. May we all be so passionate about caring for others!