Gymnasts break injury rules
New Zealand gymnasts, some with serious injuries, are training more than 30 hours a week and using painkillers, but Gymnastics NZ has ignored complaints. Zoe¨ George reports.
Artistic gymnasts trying to reach the highest levels in the sport are training more than 30 hours a week, often breaching both international and government guidelines.
There are also allegations athletes are being forced to return from injury early by coaches, and against doctors’ recommendations, at both club and elite level.
Several athletes reported training between 27 and 32 hours a week. Some were in their early teenage years, others were as young as nine.
One former Commonwealth Games athlete said at 18 she was training more than 44 hours a week in the build-up to the Games, with a torn achilles tendon.
The long hours in the gym were driven by their coaches, who instilled a normalised culture of long training hours, and to train and compete through the pain, athletes spoken to by the Sunday Star-Times say.
This follows an investigation into gymnastics by Stuff that uncovered alleged abusive practices and alleged bullying of athletes, coaches and judges.
It is alleged some athletes were forced to perform skills they weren’t prepared for, which led to serious injuries, including broken bones, dislocations and serious concussions.
Some claim their injuries are ongoing because of overuse. There are reports of gymnasts being told by coaches to remove casts before bones had properly healed.
They allege there is also a culture that an injury resulting in surgery is seen as a badge of honour, rather than something serious.
‘‘ The only way you’re respected is if you train through an injury, and you end up having to physically have a cast or surgery, [to] have something that shows you can’t use [a body part],’’ a former senior level athlete said.
She returned to the gym the day after having surgery for a gymnastics-related recurring injury, she said. She was in her mid-teens at the time.
‘‘[Returning to the gym] felt like a choice at the time, but if I hadn’t have come back I would have felt really bad,’’ she said. ‘‘You don’t miss a day for anything.’’
Another former senior level gymnast said athletes were in a ‘‘constant state of confusion’’.
Athletes were encouraged to tell their coaches they were injured, but then, more often than not, they were then told they were ‘‘making excuses’’ and their injuries were ‘‘ not that bad’’. They were often blamed for being injured.
Athletes were self-medicating with strong painkillers to get through. A former Commonwealth Games athlete said her pain was so severe she ‘‘ overdosed’’ on the painkiller Tramadol so she could compete at a local competition.
‘‘I was so spaced out from the Tramadol that I almost landed on my head in the competition because I didn’t know where I was in the air,’’ she said.
Stuff has attempted to contact the coaches, who declined to be interviewed.
A former coach from a leading club said both her club and governing body Gymnastics New Zealand (GNZ) were aware of what was occurring, including athletes being regularly injured.
She said she sent a formal complaint, but nothing was done.
‘‘If you have surgery on your knee [ for example], you’re expected to be in the gym the next day — because you can do conditioning. You can do bars. You don’t need legs for bars,’’ she said.
‘‘ I am so sick of seeing these things happen. People need to be held accountable. Gyms need to be held accountable. Gymnastic New Zealand needs to be held accountable.’’
Several former athletes also say they were psychologically injured, as well as physically hurt.
Many have paid to see psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists after retirement to help deal with ‘‘the trauma of retirement, and the ongoing effects of childhood abuse as an adult’’, another former Commonwealth Games athlete said.
Sports- related psychological injuries are not covered by Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). But, in the year ending June 2020, more than $3 million was paid out for 3107 new physical injury claims related to gymnastics. This has decreased since 2016-17, which saw more than 5000 new claims, and more than $3.7m paid out.
ACC statistics show ankle and spine injuries are most prevalent.
Athletes aged 10 to 14 have the highest number of injuries, followed by those aged 15 to 19.
Auckland and Canterbury have the highest number of gymnastics-related injury claims. They also have a higher participation rate than other regions.
ACC recommends children should engage with sport one hour per week for each year of their age. ACC injury prevention partner Natalie Hardaker discourages a premature return to training and competition following injury in any sport, saying it should be guided by a healthcare professional.
With significant injuries like concussion, a fracture or (knee) injury an early return increased longer-term risks, she said.
Fe´de´ration Internationale de Gymnastique ( FIG) guidelines state girls aged six and seven should train up to three hours a week, those aged nine and 10 about 14 hours a week, and those aged 11 to 12 about 18 hours a week.
Female gymnasts aged 13 and 14 were recommended to train about 21 hours spread across up to seven sessions a week, 15 and 16 years old should train about 24 hours a week spread across eight sessions, while those 17 and older in High Performance Training were recommended to train about 27 to 30 hours a week, spread across 10 sessions.
In New Zealand, athletes can apply for a dispensation to go up training levels beyond their age range if they are deemed to have the skills and talent to progress.
Gymnastics New Zealand chief executive Tony Compier did not answer specific questions about dispensations and training hours.
He referred those with complaints to Sport New Zealand’s Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM) and the independent review, led by former World Anti Doping Agency boss David Howman.
Spending too many hours training, not training properly and returning from injury can have a detrimental effect on developing bodies, leading sports doctor Dan Exeter said.
‘‘If you train at any age in your adolescence more than 16 hours a week, there’s data that suggests you’re more at risk of over-use injuries,’’ he said.
For young athletes going through the ‘‘ pubertal growth spurt’’, that can include over-use injuries to growth plates and bones, including stress fractures. It’s not unusual for these injuries to be reported late to medical professionals, Exeter said.
‘‘ . . . part of the ethos of some of these big volume sports that [ athletes] will have pain from time to time, so these things get picked up late, which means it takes longer to get better,’’ he said.
‘‘ It’s not usual for us to see a patient . . . and they might have been limping for a couple of weeks, and they won’t have stopped [ training], they keep going and work through it because it’s accepted you’re going to get sore.’’
Parents, he said, struggle to vocalise their concerns about training loads and injuries because of the culture associated with training through the pain.
Keeping children in sport has lifelong benefits, but it’s about getting that balance right, he said.
‘‘We are trying to set up a lifelong relationship and love of sport and you will destroy that if you end up with significant injuries or by being burnt out by your sport.’’
Returning early from injury can also impact mental health and well-being, leading sport psychologist Karen Nimmo said.
‘‘ Psychologically, athletes need to feel ready to return to
‘‘I was so spaced out from the Tramadol that I almost landed on my head in the competition.’’ Former Commonwealth Games gymnast
sport, especially in sports that involve physical risk. You need to be able to believe you are fit and conditioned for the task, if you don’t, it can cause you to tighten up, perform poorly or hurt yourself,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s not uncommon for talented athletes to say they felt pressure from coaches to return early. That’s wrong – not just physically but mentally. In some cases, it’s psychologically abusive. It can also end a promising career.’’
Athletes often visit sport psychologists to work through their physical injuries, Nimmo said.
‘‘Fear can be a big player postinjury and if it’s not addressed it can trigger performance anxiety,’’ she said.
‘‘ Most athletes return when they feel physically ready but, after a traumatic or chronic injury, they should make sure they have healed psychologically too.’’ Physical Injuries can cause ‘‘emotional havoc’’, particularly if it’s ongoing, recurring or traumatic. That can manifest itself in several ways, including sadness, anxiety, isolation, frustration, loss of motivation, weight change and feeling disengaged.
Nimmo said these symptoms can also signal other issues including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse.
‘‘For some athletes sport is a coping mechanism for deeper issues such as disordered eating, anxiety and depression so when they can’t train, these can flare up,’’ she said.
Too much training can lead to boredom, frustration, mental exhaustion and depression.
‘‘Good coaches are gold because they can monitor the load and spot warning signs,’’ she said.
‘‘In some cases, it’s psychologically abusive. It can also end a promising career.’’ Sports psychologist Karen Nimmo