British Gymnastics has banned coaches from being able to weigh athletes to stop practices of “systemic” abuse.
Warning: Contains references to physical and emotional abuse
Last year, the Whyte Review found evidence of physical and emotional abuse in the sport “borne of inadequate practice”.
The report, which examined over 400 complaints, uncovered that gymnasts were starved and made to hang from the rings in punishment, and some had their bags searched for food for weight management, among other failings.
Now, under a series of new rules published by British Gymnastics, the weighing of gymnasts “must always be their choice and must only be undertaken by qualified sport science or medical practitioners”.
Coaches must not weigh gymnasts, and athletes between the ages 10 and 18 can only be weighed with consent of both themselves and their parent or guardian.
Gymnasts must now also be provided with opportunities to drink regularly throughout a gymnastics session or activity, and bathroom breaks at the earliest opportunity.
In addition, British Gymnastics now requires that clubs and coaches ensure the missing of formal education for gymnastics club training must not be a mandatory requirement for any child.
They added more policies protecting athletes are forthcoming, and explained the new rules were introduced “to prevent inappropriate practices and prevent potential areas of concern around weighing, due to some of the related psychological distress and risks of the development of mental health problems such as eating disorders/disordered eating, anxiety, and depression”.
It added: “Inappropriate or excessive weighing of gymnasts is an example of poor practice which may be on the fringe of abuse, and if/or repeated could amount to abuse.”
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Sarah Powell, chief executive at British Gymnastics, also said: “Above all else, we care about gymnasts as people, and these new policies make clear that what matters most in gymnastics is the welfare of those involved.
“While practices have moved on a long way, we know there has been poor practice in these areas and so by providing clarity for gymnasts, parents and carers, coaches, clubs, volunteers and officials through the statements set out in these policies it will ensure everyone understands what is okay and what is not okay and help prevent that happening in the future.”
In October last year, British Gymnastics said it would name coaches who have been banned as part of “Reform ’25”, its action plan in response to the Whyte Review.
Speaking to Sky News, a spokesperson for Gymnasts For Change, a group of current and former athletes campaigning for change in the sport, said it welcomed the new policies.
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But it added: “The new safeguarding policies are meaningless without a robust welfare, investigation and complaints system that delivers resolutions on behalf of complainants.
“Since the publication of the Whyte Review in June 2022, no coaches have been banned via the Independent Complaints Process, a process that was set up by BG [British Gymnastics] to investigate serious complaints from the Whyte Review.
“BG’s admission that breaching these new policies amounts to ‘physical abuse’ is significant, however they are currently still failing to sanction coaches for perpetrating clear cases of abuse and guideline violations via their own independent complaints process.
“Without establishing a more robust complaints process, Gymnasts for Change cannot have faith in BG’s ability to enforce the policies they have put in place, and as such BG continues to engage in acts of disguised compliance and ongoing institutional betrayal.”
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While 30 sexual abuse allegations were made as part of the Whyte Review, the vast majority of complaints focused on physical and emotional abuse.
The findings followed the Netflix documentary Athlete A, which revealed allegations of sexual abuse within US gymnastics.
Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics who was sentenced to more than 300 years in jail for sexually assaulting children and possessing child sex abuse material, was the subject of the programme.
