Joie de vivre should have priority: Ellie Downie ends her gymnastics career.
Image: Reuters
Body shaming, hidden food, constant humiliation: The career of the successful British gymnast Ellie Downie ended far too early.
“After the really difficult last few years, I’ve come to the conclusion that my mental health and zest for life come first,” gymnast Ellie Downie explained her decision to retire last week. With two World Championships and ten European Championships medals, including the all-around title in 2017, the 23-year-old is one of the most successful British gymnasts ever. Above all, it is thanks to Ellie Downie and her older sister Becky that a debate about the culture of training in women’s gymnastics began in July 2020 and has not ended to this day.
Under the hashtag #gymnastAlliance, the two, as active members of the national team, reported on body shaming, hidden food, training despite injuries and constant humiliation, triggering a previously unimaginable wave of similar descriptions. In Germany, six months later, it was Pauline Schäfer-Betz who was the first to find the courage to report on what she had experienced.
