Gymnastics coach was pulled from GB squad over mistreatment allegations
Shortly before the Tokyo Olympics a top British gymnastics coach was removed from the Great Britain Olympic coaching team on account of allegations about her treatment of a former gymnast, according to a report published by BBC Sport.
The veteran coach Liz Kincaid coached a number of gymnasts including Amelie Morgan, part of the historic Olympic bronze medal-winning team in Tokyo, but an allegation was made against her relating to the mental health of one her former gymnasts, which prompted an investigation. Under the British Olympic Association rules the investigation left her ineligible for the British team in Tokyo. In July 2021 it was announced that Kincaid would retire from the sport.
Two gymnasts have since stepped forward with further allegations against Kincaid, which range from claims that she implored them to compete while seriously injured to her shaming gymnasts about their weight. Poppy Wynn, a 25-year-old former gymnast, said she tore her perineum at 12 years old after falling off the uneven bars during an unmonitored set and landing in oversplits.
Kincaid allegedly told Wynn’s mother that she had merely started her period but doctors immediately identified a far more serious injury. “I went to Liz, I had blood dripping down my leg and she then took me into the office and gave me sanitary pads to effectively mop up the blood and then sent me back into the gym,” Wynn told the
BBC.
Wynn claimed that, under Kincaid, she trained on a broken hand for six weeks, while the former British champion Sophie Jameson said she was made to train on a broken ankle and she was once required to continue “excruciating” upper body training while recovering from a dislocated knee. Both gymnasts said Kincaid spoke to them demeaningly, shouting in the faces of gymnasts and weight-shaming them.
Kincaid has denied all of the allegations made against her, issuing a statement to the BBC. It read: “The health, well-being and safety of the gymnasts under my care and tuition was of paramount importance to me and a matter close to my heart. To suggest I would mistreat the gymnasts goes against every principle I live by and is very upsetting.”
The allegations are the latest in a long list of similar claims as gymnastics reckons with allegations of abusive coaching methods widespread around the world. In 2020 numerous British gymnasts, including Becky and Ellie Downie, Nile Wilson and Amy Tinkler, came forward with accusations of mistreatment and abuse against a number of the sport’s coaches and officials.
British gymnastics is under an independent investigation led by Anne Whyte QC and initiated by UK Sport and Sport England. Its findings are due to be published next month.