A storm is coming, can you feel it...?
Off the back of the releases of Netflix gymnastics documentary 'Athlete A' and the ESPN podcast series 'Heavy Medals', a multitude of current and former elite international gymnasts have started speaking out about verbally and physically abusive treatment experienced in their gyms.
After horrifying revelations involving gymnastics training centres in the United States came to light and reverberated around the world, the spotlight next fell on British Gymnastics. Numerous celebrated Olympic,World and European medallists from Team GB's ranks have spoken publicly on social and traditional media outlets about their negative experiences. Among the many harrowing stories shared, the most striking accounts came from former elites Catherine Lyons and Amy Tinkler who spoke of competing on serious injuries, forced isolation and emotional gaslighting leading to premature retirement from the sport. 2000 Olympian Lisa Mason was also very vocal for the cause.
The hashtag gaining traction each day has been #GymnastAlliance
As one of the most popular youth sports in the country, it was only a matter of time before the movement reached Australia. Over the weekend, several former gymnasts from our senior elite national program found the courage to tell their stories, and it is believed many more are due to come. On social media they are pledging support for eachother and for a shift to safer, smarter, more transparent coaching in a modern age. The movement even has its own hashtag - #gymnastallianceAUS
For the record, this blog did not start the hashtag. It has no employment, direct affiliation or representation whatsoever with Gymnastics Australia or its state associations. This blog has previously been given media accreditation issued by GA at the national championships.
I am not a parent, family member or coach of a gymnast. I am just a longtime fan and observer. I speak on nobody's behalf but my own, unless requested to do so.
I stand with every single male or female gymsport athlete who has dealt with difficult, dangerous circumstances and I firmly believe that every training environment should be a safe and transparent one. I stand with #GymnastAlliance and #GymnastAllianceAUS
I have created this post to centralise any statements and media coverage available online and I will do my best to update it on a regular basis. (Some statements may be over several posts)
Content Trigger Warning: Mentions of verbal abuse/harrassment of children, eating disorders, bodily injury, attempted suicide
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Mary-Anne Monckton, 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist and World Cup medallist
"I don't want future gymnasts to have to go through the same things we did. However, this insidious culture won't go away overnight..."
Alex Eade, Commonwealth Games gold medallist & World Championship team member
"I was scared to vocalise how much pain I was in [...] I am coming forward because I want change."
Rianna Mizzen, Commonwealth Games medallist & World Cup medallist
Jade Sharp (nee Davidson), 1996 Olympic hopeful turned coach
Chloe Gilliland (nee Sims), 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and World Championship team member
"I still feel horribly about almost all parts of my gymnastics career... I felt it was easier to end my own life than give in to what they wanted me to be."
Olivia Vivian, 2008 Olympian and NCAA Medallist (Oregon State University)
"After reaching my goal and representing my country at the highest level of competition I was a broken athlete and even worse, a broken person. [Competing at OSU] opened my eyes to how this sport should be experienced. OSU turned me back into that girl who couldn't wait to go to gym."
Georgia Bonora, 2008 and 2012 Olympic team member
"I have had some terrible experiences at major international competitions and national training camps between 2006 - 2012 that I wouldn't wish on anyone... there was a culture of fear created by people in power."
Britt Greeley, 2008 Pacific Rim Championship and 2009 Youth Olympic Fest team member
"Competing on a broken foot at age 12 and being told you were just homesick... training/competing on a broken back and being forced to keep going. Having no support from the coaches who were once your biggest fan, just to throw you down in the gutter... #JustToListAFew #GymnastAllianceAus"
Eden Tarvit, 2011-2014 National vault medallist
"[Athlete A] has brought to our attention some issues within the sport that we may not have noticed at the time. However now is the time for change, to raise awareness and to help protect our younger generation of athletes. The culture in gymnastics is based on fear. We feared our coaches and authority figures. We were not allowed to cry in the gym or show any emotion. We were treated like adults when we were kids, and in the end, we weren't treated like people at all."
Desnee Richter, 2015 Australian National medallist and Olympic hopeful
"The negative memories seem to cloud the positive... from being yelled at and belittled to the point of tears, being forced to wear sweat suits in summer for weight loss as a teen, to being told I was throwing medals away when I sustained an injury needing surgery..."
Shar-Lee Clark, Australian National medallist
"My coach caught me eating [a muesli bar] and made me throw them out in front of the entire team. I will never forget the humiliation of this."
Olivia Brown, Australian National medallist (via Instagram)
"It was the little things that stay burned into your mind years and years after finishing the sport. It was the, your hair needs to be shorter, you need to look a certain way (body type) and act a certain way."
Shannon Neate, Australian National medallist
"I'd like to include some direct quotes said to myself and my teammates while we were training as elite gymnasts:
- You're a disappointment
- Your parents are wasting their money paying for your training.
- You're not injured, don't lie
- Go back to levels gymnastics
- You're an adult and you will be treated like one (I was 15)."
Emily Little, 2012 Olympian and World Cup medallist
"I grew up in an elite system and was mistreated at times. However we can change things for the better... I love this sport, I have gained so much from it, but we can do better."
Luke Wadsworth (men's artistic gymnast), national medallist and World Championship competitor
"My experience with gymnastics was 90% amazing, it's still my favourite sport... however, I heard and saw things looking back that were 100% not ok and being a teenager or young adult it's hard to know what to do when these people are who you look up to, who you have to impress to make teams..."
Kent Pieterse (men's artistic gymnast), Commonwealth Games medallist and national medallist
I recently interviewed Kent about his experiences of racism in the gym and he offered his support yesterday on Twitter to all those speaking out on social media.
Jazmine Casis, National medallist
"I stuck around because I believed that I needed this coach/treated this way to achieve my dreams... When it came to nationals I was not prepared and landed a tumble and my ankle went... I ended up having 2 surgeries and never being able to train at full capacity again. We took this further up in the organisation but was told there was nothing that could be done about it."
Yasmin Collier, National medallist and Pacific Rim Championships competitor (via instagram)
[Our coaches] left five 12 year olds defenceless in an airport. We remember being so scared and remember making suitcase barricades to keep the 'weird men' away."
Paige James, National medallist, Youth Olympic festival competitor and first Indigenous Australian gymnast to make a national team
"I was 14 at another gymnastics camp at AIS and I was struggling to perform a skill. Instead of words of motivation, support and encouragement, I was publicly shamed by being screamed at that I was a pathetic excuse of a person, I was a disgrace to gymnastics, a disgrace to my family and I was a disgrace to the whole Aboriginal community."
Aya Meggs, National medallist and Nadia Comaneci Invitational team member
"There were so any times when the type of adversity we had to overcome was unnecessary...Training camps and travel was a major source of anxiety. I'd get a stomach ache before and after every meal for fear of being caught eating too much."
Amelia McGrath, National medallist and Pacific Rim Championships medallist
"All the highs come with tremendous lows, in and out of the gym: Anxiety, obsessive tendencies, depression to the point that mum used to help me shower because I couldn't do it myself. Waking up every morning to feelings of fear and dread. Disordered eating, tremendous and frankly unusual amounts of stress, being weighed every Monday morning from the age of ELEVEN."
Livia Giles (Gluchowska), Former Polish-Australian rhythmic gymnast turned physiotherapist and competitive wrestler.
"It makes me shake in rage at how anyone allowed it to happen in the first place. Deprived of food at training camps, not only in Poland but at the AIS in Australia... the Aussie swim team would sneak us food between room inspections."
Trinity De Lance Au-Yong, National club gymnast
"Watching all my role models I grew up with coming out and sharing their stories has made me feel like I could come out and share my story too. The toxicity I experienced in gymnastics from the age of 6 to 10 has played a big role in my life... my mom reported it multiple times about all [that] was done and got yelled at, and told it was my fault."
Sophie Stuart, State Championship medallist and state squad member
"I was belittled constantly and told I was never good enough... at my first junior Aus team camp I was yelled at endlessly because I was unable to do a difficult skill. I was told that I was an embarrassment and that I ruined the camp for everyone, never to be invited back. Hopefully sharing my story will help others create a positive impact..."
Isobel Looker, State Championship medallist and state squad member
"When I was a gymnast, I used to tell my mates that I would 'never put my kids into gymnastics' because of the trauma it would inflict on them. I laughed at the time but I didn't realise the seriousness of this statement... we need CHANGE."
Ebonie Boucher, state and national medallist
"At face value gymnastics seems like this sport filled with flips, tricks and fancy leotards, but behind closed doors it's a whole different world. We were living in constant fear of not performing a skill correctly or meeting the coach's standards, continually being fat-shamed and never being able to shed a tear no matter the circumstances as "Olympians don't cry"... I wonder if the ever coaches knew how many tears were shed by their gymnasts in their home!"
Carrie Freestone, former state-level gymnast turned crossfit athlete
"Me. This is my struggle. I hurt my elbow training on vault. My coach insinuated it was nothing. Told my parents it was nothing... This is not just an 'elite' problem. This treatment is not just reserved for Olympic hopefuls. This happened in a suburban Brisbane gym with other Regional, State and National level gymnasts."
Eadie Rawson, state and national medallist (via Instagram)
"From an extremely young age, we were placed in an environment where we were publicly shamed, and embarrassed in front of peers and superiors. These and many other outdated ideologies, and coaching methods continue throughout any athlete's career, which has lasting effects long after stepping out of the gym... this needs to stop now to protect the young gymnasts in these environments today."
Some things I witnessed over the years as a fan:
* 2004 Olympics: After a fall on her beam dismount during the preliminary round of competition, Lisa Skinner was loudly admonished on camera by national coach Peggy Liddick, "You did that 4 years ago!" after dismounting the podium. Video of this incident is no longer available at Youtube as it cuts off early but I captured it on VHS during the broadcast
2008 Courier Mail article: "Broken Bodies are Tragedy of Beijing Olympics"
"Something must be going wrong – everyone is getting injured, everyone is retiring," Arrowsmith said."All the people I trained with, all the people I competed against – it's like the lost generation, we were one of the best groups."
* I was once sent a screengrab of a former senior gymnast's claim on social media that they and their teammates were encouraged by the coaches and chaperones at an international competition to avoid eating any pasta or bread during the trip. I have not reached out to this individual and as far as I'm aware they have not made a #gymnastalliance statement
The Australian Gymnastics Blog recognises that in recent years Gymnastics Australia and its state associations have affirmed their commitment to SafeSport, among other safety and wellbeing programs. But it is my opinion that this absolutely does not undo or rectify any past poor treatment of gymnasts and inappropriate comments to the media.
*** UPDATE WEDNESDAY JULY 22ND ***
The Age (and its Fairfax sister papers around the country) has published
Gymnastics Australia CEO Kitty Chiller has issued
I still maintain there are many more stories to come out and I will update them where I can with the permission of the athletes involved.This is not over after just one statement to media.
As always, I stand with every athlete in our gymnastics disciplines and send them my best wishes at a challenging time for the sport. We see you, we value you, we support you.
