Pushing athletes to the edge
“TODAY, in a gym right now, some kid is being verbally abused, physically abused, God forbid it, sexually abused. Today. Fact.”
Gymnastics coach Carlton Webster does not mince his words.
He has been horrified by the culture that has allowed to permeate through British gymnastics over the past few decades. With the Olympics coming up in summer, this eye-opening documentary chronicles the fight for justice by British ex-gymnasts who say they were physically, emotionally or sexually abused as children by their coaches.
The former athletes – some of whom are telling their stories for the first time – are suing the sport’s governing body, British Gymnastics.
Nikki O’donnell speaks out, claiming she was sexually assaulted multiple times between the ages of nine and 14 by a coach at a club in York. She says: “I noticed as I got older that where he was putting his hands wasn’t normal. He wrecked my life, emotionally, mentally.”
We hear how one national coach had sex with an underage gymnast, as well as allegations of how a former Olympian and coach touched two of his pupils inappropriately.
Victims talk about how the experiences devastated their lives – leading to damaged relationships and in one case, driving a young girl to anorexia and alcoholism.
The revelations are shocking, while Carlton even explains parents were being groomed in one case as the coach got close to the children.
Leading lawyer Anne Whyte, who carried out a two-year inquiry into gymnastics, says British Gymnastics needed to change its procedures.
She says: “I think it’s extremely hard to change a culture. Culture reflects itself across every aspect of an organisation.
“And that’s not just about ticking boxes and issuing new policies.
“It is about implementing a fundamental rethink in the way the organisation is run.”