“Slowly slipped in”
German climber makes illness public
Updated on 01.10.2025 – 8:33 amReading time: 2 min.
Alexander Megos is one of the stars in climbing. However, his way there was difficult. He talked about it for the first time.
Alexander Megos has been part of the top of the world in climbing for years. The Franke wrote history in 2013 when he achieved a historical performance at the age of 19 and was the first climber to beat a rock wall of difficulty 9a in OnsSty mode. This means that he made the route in the first attempt without having watched someone else beforehand. However, another chapter of his biography is less well known, which he now makes public: in his youth he suffered from anorexia.
In an interview with the “Welt”, Megos describes: as a child he “slowly slipped in”. “You only realize this when it is already too late. I can’t determine at what time it all started. At the age of 15 I was already in it – at the age of 16 and 17 too.” During this time he only weighed 45 kilograms.
“However, I can’t say exactly when it was or how big I was at the time. But I definitely had a clear underweight underweight,” said the Franke, from which the “Frei am Fels” autobiography appeared at the beginning of October.
Megos’ social life also suffered from the eating disorder. “I no longer wanted to meet someone. I was sitting at home and didn’t feel like moving in the house because it was too strenuous. At some point the complete existence became a torment. I hoped to fall asleep so that the night goes around and I don’t feel hungry at that time.” He only realized around his 18th birthday that he had a problem.
Today, Megos, who has won three World Cup medals, among other things and took part in the summer games in Tokyo and Paris, sees almost completely recovered. “I would say I’m healed 98 percent. The ultimate test is whether you can only lose a few kilos because of sport, but have no problem afterwards. This is now the case with me.”
Eating disorders such as anorexia are not an isolated case in climbing. Many athletes reduce their weight in the hope of achieving better performance. But the price is high: physical damage such as bone loss or failing monthly bleeding in women as well as psychological stress are the consequences. Associations at national and international level have announced that they want to take a decisive factor against this problem.