How ‘systemic’ abuse within British Gymnastics was allowed to continue for decades

A review has found that British Gymnastics enabled a culture where young gymnasts were starved, body shamed and abused.

Anne Whyte QC has published an independent report based on more than 400 submissions from those in the sport, including a story of a seven-year-old girl who was “sat on” by her adult coach in order to extend a stretch.

The 306-page report has “unsparingly and unflinchingly” exposed the “depth of the allegations” of physical and emotional mistreatment that have plagued the sport, The Times said.

Among the testimonies in the review are those of gymnasts reduced to tears and injured by coaches sitting on them as they stretched, with one saying they did not know how their legs didn’t “snap” during the experience.

One gymnast reported being sworn at regularly from the age of nine, Sky News said. Another told investigators “the coach would shout and scream in our faces so close that I could smell [their] breath and feel [their] spit landing on my face”.

A former elite gymnast described being made to stand on a beam for two hours because she was frightened to attempt a particular skill. Another expressed a dominant culture of intimidation around “weight management” that led to children hiding food behind ceiling tiles.

The review found that girls were subjected to some of the worst treatment, often concerning regular weigh-ins, The Guardian reported.

“Our time of the months were never accounted for,” said one female gymnast’s testimonial. “Being on my period meant I could add one or two kilograms to the weight on the scale. Immediately I would be shunned for this.”

Britain’s “ruthless Olympic medal drive” since 2008 may have contributed to welfare failings, The Telegraph said. Until 2008 no British gymnast had