For those in the world of gymnastics, the name Larry Nassar sparks outrage, disgust, and fear. His horrendous sexual abuse and exploitation of 298 young gymnasts in his position as a US team doctor rocked the world between his arrest in 2016 and his sentencing in 2018. Nassar’s abuse sparked wider analysis on the toxic culture present in gymnastics worldwide, from elite training squads to local club level gymnastics — this has been explored visually in the harrowing Netflix documentary Athlete A.
Closer to home, British gymnastics has discovered horrific abuses. A review conducted by Anne Whyte QC revealed gymnasts being systematically starved and forced to lose weight, humiliated, mocked for having mental blocks (fear to attempt skills), shouted at, and humiliated. One particular example comes from the brave and hugely talented Jessica Daykin, an international competitor in British gymnastics whose immense skill I was lucky enough to see personally in 2018, when she won the Rushmoor Rosebowl, hosted by my own gymnastics club. Daykin spoke out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her coach (whose name remains hidden by British Gymnastics), detailing how she was ‘silenced’ and even sanctioned when trying to speak out, while the coach has since been allowed to return to unsupervised instruction.
Choosing to keep allegations and coach misdemeanours private to protect the reputation of the institution also seems to be a practice of USA Gymnastics (USAG); one must ask whether they are more concerned about winning than the wellbeing of their own gymnasts.
USAG actively encourages an environment where athletes feel unable to speak out about abuse. ‘The Ranch’ — an elite training facility with no phone service — is supposed to reinforce and promote athletes’ dedication but in fact puts gymnasts out of their parents’ reach, solely to be looked after by coaches. This was the place where the majority of Nassar’s abuse occurred and was left undiscovered for many years. In 2015, Maggie Nichols (Athlete A) reported Nassar to the USAG President, but the allegation was hushed up and Nassar’s abuse continued. Nichols did not make the 2016 US Olympic team, despite placing 6th in the All-around at the San Jose trials, where the 7th and 8th place finishers gained spots in the squad. Maggie and her parents consider this a form of punishment from USAG for speaking out. Her mother spoke about this saying: “U.S. Gymnastics took Maggie’s Olympic dream away from her.”
The severity of abuse and the institution’s refusal to speak out paints a bleak picture for the sport. However, with the publication of these abuse scandals, the sport’s culture is beginning to change. Viewers of the 2024 Olympics were pleased to see a very different American gymnastics team to what they are used to. Simone Biles (27), the only remaining team member from the Nassar era, led the team to victory, older than any gymnast has been on the US team since the 1950s. Biles was joined by Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and youngest teammate Hezly Rivera — the average age of the team in 2024 was 22.2 years old, a massive difference from the average age of 16.4 at the London 2012 games. This team sparks hope for the future of the sport, sending a strong message to coaches worldwide — when you treat gymnasts with respect, don’t starve them into an unattainable body, and force them to train with serious injuries, they can go on to have long successful careers.
“US Gymnastics” by margaretglin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.