More than 500 Canadian gymnasts call on Sport Minister to freeze funding

More than 500 Canadian gymnasts are calling on Canada's Sport Minister to freeze funding to their national sport organization.

In a public letter Thursday to Minister Pascale St-Onge — and after four months of "sharing devastating stories" of years of abuse — Gymnasts for Change, which represents 508 athletes, are repeating their calls for strict measures.

That includes a third-party investigation and the suspension of funding, as was done with Hockey Canada.

Their initial request months ago, they said, has been ignored by Gymnastics Canada (GymCan), Sport Canada, and "now by your office, and to the great detriment of child gymnasts across the country."

Several gymnasts told The Canadian Press earlier this week they wondered if the abuse could have been prevented had their calls for intervention been heard.

"In the last four months, we have publicly bared our souls, sharing stories of devastating treatment we suffered at the hands of our sport," the letter said. "We have called for an independent third-party investigation to address the systemic culture of abuse that prevails in Canadian gymnastics."

GymCan announced recently it had commission McLaren Global Sport Solutions to do a "culture review" of the sport's national governing body. But the gymnasts have rejected the review, since it's "bought and paid for by the very organization to be investigated."

WATCH | Canadian gymnasts call for change:

The Gymnasts for Change group, which has grown from an original 70 members three months ago, asks for the suspension of funding to prevent taxpayer dollars going to what they say will be an ineffective and harmful review that will whitewash the survivor experience.

St-Onge froze Hockey Canada's funding in the wake of the