Brooke Ailey strides through the Lappe Nordic Ski Centre to her locker, where a hanging poster reads, “Girls in sports are empowered for life.”
She grabs her equipment and heads to the wooded trails in Thunder Bay, Ont., that have groomed dozens of world-class cross-country ski athletes. Ailey, 17, is putting in hundreds of hours every year, trying to join that list.
Skiing and that competitive drive bring a lot of joy to Ailey, she told CBC News, but it’s also caused harm. In August 2019, after her mother recognized possible symptoms and brought her to a doctor, Ailey was diagnosed with disordered eating.
“For me, it
