A devastating report on British Gymnastics has found that young children had been subject to physical and emotional abuse by their coaches, and were regularly denied food, water and toilet breaks.
The Whyte Review, which was commissioned back in 2020 following allegations of abuse within the British gymnastics sector, made for a shocking read upon its release this week.
In many cases, gymnasts reported that they had resorted to hiding food under their beds or in the ceiling tiles when coaches 'went to damaging lengths' to control what they ate and weighed.
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The £3 million review, put together by Anne Whyte QC, consisted of more than 400 submissions from current and former gymnasts, focusing on the period between August 2008 and August 2020.
It found that the treatment left many gymnasts with eating disorders and other associated mental health difficulties.
Whyte reported on one particular instance when a coach was "aware that the gymnast had an eating disorder" but "continued to name and shame her in public".
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Some gymnasts reported having their weights recorded and announced in front of the team, and being asked to send photographs to prove that they had lost weight.
Over 40% of the submissions reported physically abusive behaviour from coaches, including over-stretching to the point of tears, depriving gymnasts of water and toilet breaks, and training on injury.
One former gymnast reported a coach had forced her to stand on a beam for two hours because she was frightened to attempt a particular move.
Meanwhile, over 50% of participants reported experiences of emotional abuse, including name calling, gaslighting, and swearing.
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Comments often focused on weight and appearance including "your thighs are disgusting" and "you look like you have a beer belly".
There were also 30 separate submissions relating to sexual abuse, though it has been noted that this was not systemic, and was taken more seriously by British Gymnastics.
The Whyte review noted that the "vast majority" of abusive behaviour from coaches was directed at female gymnasts, and that the scale of abuse was "far larger than British Gymnastics had appreciated".
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The report went on to suggest that British Gymnastics had "not only failed to prevent or limit such behaviours but had condoned some of them in the pursuit of national and international competitive success".
No Team GB gymnast had ever won an Olympic medal before 2008, but 16 medals have been won across the last four Olympic Games. However, Whyte urged in her report that these wins had come at a serious cost.
The report concluded with 17 recommendations for the future of the sport across four key areas: safeguarding and welfare, complaints handling, standards and educations, and governance and oversight.
Following the publication of the review, British Gymnastics' chief executive Sarah Powell said that the experiences described by gymnasts were "not acceptable", describing it as a "watershed moment" for sport.
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Powell, who has been the chief executive since October 2021, stated that British Gymnastics would accept all recommendations and key findings from the report, and affirmed that there is "no place for abuse of any kind in our sport and coaching standards of the past will not be those of the future".
She added: "I want to wholeheartedly apologise to the gymnasts who have suffered as a result of us not working to the standards we set ourselves. We are sorry."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 8am–10pm Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm weekends. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111
Topics: News
Ali Condon