Former British gymnast Nicole Pavier said

Former gymnast Nicole Pavier said British athletes were subjected to “child abuse” and the results of an independent review revealed physical and mental abuse at the courts. club.

The review, led by Anne Whyte QC, was commissioned by Sport England and Sport England in August 2020 following allegations of abuse in sport in the UK.

The report shows British gymnastics suffers from a cultural problem, where young athletes are shamed for their weight while others are severely punished for the smallest mistakes in the process. exercise program.

British Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body in the UK, said it was committed to changing the sport for the better and apologized to the athletes who had arrived.

“This is not tough training and mild abuse, this is child abuse against athletes at a very young age,” Pavier told the BBC. “That has a huge impact on the rest of our lives from a physical and mental perspective.

“This (report) shows that it wasn’t just a few bad apples, that we were led to believe, and indeed by using our voices we now know that there is a There’s a culture of abuse and these are kids being abused in clubs and there’s a huge number of them.”

Gymnasts for Change, an advocacy group for a “future free from abuse”, said the report’s recommendations were “far short of what is needed”.

“We urge Gymnastics England to implement a new maximum limit on training hours for child athletes,” it said in a statement.

British athletes have won 15 medals in gymnastics since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, before that only three Olympic podiums.