Simone Biles says she is “heartbroken” by the viral video of a black girl being passed over for a medal at a ceremony. The four-time Olympic champion shared her thoughts about the situation on Twitter and said “there is no room for racism in any sport” after the clip circulated on social media.
As we previously reported, The video shows a line of children being awarded medals but the one black girl pictured did not receive one. The incident happened at a Gymstart event in Dublin in March 2022, but the video re-emerged in recent days and has been watched by millions on social media, drawing widespread criticism. While folks were discussing the topic on social media, Biles revealed that the girl’s family reached out to her. “When this video was circulating her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video. There is no room for racism in any sport or at,” she tweeted.
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On Sunday (Sept. 23), the Irish Independent published an interview with the girl’s mother. “We are often the only Black family at gymnastics events, and this has been very hurtful for us. Now, 8 million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia, they can see this was wrong, but Gymnastics Ireland still can’t accept it and say sorry,” said the concerned parent. Supporters of the family also shared the video that Biles sent the young girl and according to the news outlet Biles told her, “I wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated at your GymStart event recently. I was completely shocked and wanted to let you know that you deserve a medal just like all of the other girls. I know you’ve worked incredibly hard at the sport and I wanted to say I am rooting for you from here. Sending you my very best and know that there are so many of us here to support you.”
Supporters of the family said there were “screams and tears” of joy from the girl when she received Biles’ video of support.
Gymnastics Ireland released a statement on the situation which the girl’s family says was weak apology but the statement read: “We identified the official concerned and informed the individual in question of the complaint,” it said.
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“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.
“The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined. “A written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family.”
