British gymnastics is shaken by allegations of abuse, which can go back years and suggest a structural problem. In the past few days, several British gymnasts have reported physical and psychological damage that they would have suffered at a young age.
For example, former Commonwealth Games winner Lisa Mason said coaches in the British Gymnastics Association’s performance programs bullied, beat and starved girls – often the victims were no more than ten years old. As a twelve-year-old, she had to train regularly with prescription pain relievers because trainers sent her into the hall despite injuries, she told ITV.
The descriptions of 19-year-old Catherine Lyons are particularly impressive. The former European champion reported that as a child she was beaten with a stick during training and locked in a storage room; that she had to train with injuries; was regularly insulted for their weight.
ITV said to Lyons, “I think there is a culture that encourages abuse in the gyms.” Correct behavior is admonished in trainer courses, but practice is more important. There, trainers experienced the assaults of their colleagues in everyday life and would later integrate them into their own work as trainers, says Lyons.
Former gymnast Nicole Pavier told the BBC that she had bulimia at the age of 14 due to a “culture of fear” of weight gain.
The British athletes may have been encouraged by the Netflix documentary “Athlete A”. In it, the makers describe the extent of the abuse in the US gymnastics association. There, team doctor Larry Nassar had committed hundreds of sexual assaults against underage athletes – made possible by association structures and a climate that was all about performance. Nassar was sentenced to several hundred years in prison.
Turnverband misjudges the seriousness of the situation
After the allegations became known, the British gymnastics association initially recommended that its athletes contact an independent athlete commission instead of initiating their own investigation. Only when the British Athletes Commission (BAC) requested it and the pressure increased, did British Gymnastics launch an independent investigation into the latest allegations.
“The behaviors we’ve heard of in the past few days are in complete contradiction to our standards and have no place in our sport,” said British Gymnastics on Wednesday: “There is nothing more important to British gymnastics than the wellbeing of ours Gymnastics. We will strive to create a culture where people feel they can raise their concerns. “
So far this has obviously not been the case – on the contrary. Mason believes that many active gymnasts would still not be able to express themselves, for example, for fear of not being nominated for the Olympic squad. “Nobody wants to upset the people who make these decisions,” she told the Guardian.
On Thursday, Mason indicated that there had been internal intimidation attempts by gymnasts who had turned to the public. On Twitter, she wrote: “I think it is absolutely disgusting that to this day, individuals contact people who open their mouths to intimidate them.”
