Discrimination and racism have no place in the world of sports, yet instances of prejudice continue to surface in various athletic events. Most recently, Gymnastics Ireland has come under scrutiny for an incident involving a young black gymnast at a GymSTART competition.
A video has been making rounds online showing the heartbreaking moment a young Black gymnast gets intentionally snubbed. An official was in the middle of passing out medals to the girls who participated in the event when the little Black girl was sadly skipped. She tried her best to keep her smile but appeared to be embarrassed.
The now-viral video of the presentation in Dublin that happened in March 2022, prompted Simone Biles, the gymnastics great, to speak out. She said, it “broke my heart” to watch what happened. In response to the video going viral and the heavy backlash that followed, Gymnastics Ireland has since posted a statement online, claiming the issue had been settled following mediation that concluded in August. The lengthy statement read, “We are aware of a video that has been posted on social media relating to an incident that took place over 18 months ago at a GymSTART event in March 2022 for which we received a complaint from the parents of one of our members. Subsequently, both parties agreed to enter mediation which was independently facilitated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland as per our policy/procedure which led to a resolution agreed by both parties in August 2023.”
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Providing more details about what happened, the statement continued, “The complaint alleged racist behavior by one of our officials at the event. On receipt of the email, as per our policy and standard practice in relation to complaints, we investigated the matter. Gymnastics Ireland immediately contacted the family to express concern and reassure them that the matter was being investigated. We identified the official concerned and informed the individual in question of the complaint. The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional. The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play (FoP). The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologize in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined.”
Furthermore, Gymnastics Ireland explained that, “A written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family.”
“We have always been and will continue to be a very inclusive sport with a very diverse community of members covering all races, ages, genders, sexualities and socio-economic groups. Our ‘Safeguarding’ policies set out clear standards of behaviour we expect not alone from our coaches and gymnasts but also from our clubs, officials, administrators, parents/guardians and those who attend our events.”
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