By: Claire Wang

From around August 2008 to August 2020, a review into British gymnastics has found kids weren’t being looked after properly. Children were forced to train even when they were injured and were punished for needing to use the bathroom, and 75% of the British Gymnastics are kids underage 12.

Young British gymnasts were treated very poorly in many ways. For example, if they couldn’t do a certain move, some were forced to sit in store cupboards, while others were forced to stand for an hour. Sarah Powell, the CEO of British Gymnastics, said this treatment was unacceptable, stating “British Gymnastics accepts all the recommendations and key findings. We will not shy away from doing what is needed. I want to wholeheartedly apologize to the gymnasts who have suffered as a result of us not working to the standards we set ourselves. We are sorry… We will change gymnastics for the better.”

“I hope that the findings in this report will allow the gymnast community to feel that the failures of the past have been publicly recognized and enable the sport to move forward and make positive changes,” says Anne Whyte QC. Team GB gymnast Becky Downie, who spoke about how bad she and her sister were treated which was marked as “an important day”.

The British Gymnastics is now focusing on a few things: protecting the gymnasts, health, happiness, and more control of what the system is doing. “Gymnastics will be different because of the bravery of the gymnasts who stood up,” says Sarah Powell, CEO of British Gymnastics.

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1655669581067x463275396281904060/British%20gymnastics%20%27must%20do%20more%27%20to%20keep%20children%20safe%20-%20CBBC%20Newsround.pdf