By: Angela Li

It has been found that in British Gymnastics, coaches have been mistreating children who participate. A lot of the children there have been mistreated, such as being injured but still having to practice, having nobody to keep them safe, and being sworn at.

Lawyer Annie Whyte QC was asked to look into how gymnastics in Britain worked, and what she found was terrible. There were lots of cases where children were being inappropriately treated, made to sit in store cupboards, were sat on, called names, and had to stand on the beam for an hour. The children there were also put under pressure and punished for going to the bathroom. Team GB athlete Nicola Paver said what she went through there was child abuse.

British Gymnastics has apologized for its actions, and Gymnastics’ international federation was satisfied with its changes so far. Sarah Powell, the boss of British Gymnastics since 2021, is very upset about the report that came in. She says, “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.”

Though British Gymnastics plans to change, the company “Gymnasts For Change” isn’t satisfied. They want maximum limits on how long kids can train and government laws on child safeguarding.

UK Sport and Sport England welcomed the report and said that to keep their funding, British Gymnastics must be committed to making changes and that they are starting to show that they can do better.