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Olympic gold medalist Tessa Virtue admits she felt like she wasn’t ‘good enough’

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(Instagram/tessavirtue17)

Having won two Olympic medals and multiple world championships before the age of 30, it’s hard to imagine someone like Tessa Virtue having to deal with issues such as low self esteem. But the young ice dancer admits that even she has been made to feel like she wasn’t “good enough” at times.

“There’s a certain idea of what an ice dancer should look like as well as what a female should look like,” she tells Yahoo Canada. "You know, the six foot tall, hundred pound model – and that’s an unrealistic thing to attain for anyone, really, because even the models are Photoshopped.”

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Despite her many successes, she tells us that she’s definitely felt the pressure to look and act a certain way throughout her career.

“So yeah, I’ve had to deal with pressure for sure in my sport. And it’s a judged sport so I’m constantly feeling critiqued. But then more generally, as a woman, feeling like there’s a certain standard that you’re trying to meet and never really being able to.”

Virtue recently teamed up with Dove’s #MyBeautyMySay campaign hoping to bring attention to this issue and change the conversation around how we define beauty.

“I love what Dove is doing to bring this message to the forefront of the media because so often females – and I particularly can speak to female athletes – are judged and reported on based on their appearance rather than performance. Not only does it trivialize women but it chips away at their confidence.”

ALSO SEE: Study reveals that body confidence is a global issue for girls

Like many women, Virtue has struggled with negativity and letting the opinions of others get to her.

“So many women have body image issues because we’re not kind to ourselves. We hold on to those negative comments, internalize them and begin to believe that they’re true and then that negativity just gets put on replay in our minds.”

So how does she get through it?

“Being healthy is imperative,” she says.

“It was always really important to me as a role model to accomplish my goals in a really healthy way and to show young athletes, or even just girls, that you can accomplish your dreams while still being healthy.”

ALSO SEE: This is a message for the 7 out of 10 girls who feel like being a girl prevents them from playing sports

While she admits her training regime is pretty rigorous, with the help of a nutritionist, she makes sure her body’s properly fueled with foods that are nourishing. And it doesn’t hurt to have a supportive partner in crime, like Scott.

“It actually makes us sound really old when you realize it’s been 19 years [of skating together]. Just to have that trust and comfort and ability to communicate. We’ve worked really hard at our relationship with a lot of counseling and many hours of trying to cultivate that code of respect and making sure that we don’t take our partnership for granted.”

Up next, Virtue has her sights set on her third Games, Pyeongchang 2018, and this time she’s going into it wiser than before.

“Looking back, what you think is so important in that one moment is really just a grain of sand. In the scheme of things, it’s not important. And I wish I could tell myself that I was good enough just the way I was.”

Have you ever struggled with feelings of being good enough? Share your story with us by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.