Former elite child gymnasts say a report recommending they receive an apology for past alleged abuse does not go far enough, and they want the state government and national sporting peak body to hold those responsible accountable.
Sport Integrity Australia was commissioned to investigate after dozens of women came forward alleging they were subject to systematic physical and emotional abuse by coaches and staff when training in an elite gymnastics program in Western Australia.
On Wednesday SIA handed down its report into the allegations which covered a period between 1987 and 2016.
It details allegations of children subject to a "culture of fear" that included verbal and physical abuse, frequent and traumatising skin fold testing, weight shaming and being expected to train while injured.
WAIS apology
The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) which ran the women's artistic gymnastics program for 28 years before it was shut down in 2016, apologised for the abuse the child athletes suffered.
"To those who experienced abuse and harm we apologise," WAIS chair Neil McLean said in a statement.
"We are sorry that your experiences were painful rather than enjoyable and we apologise for the elements of the WAIS program that failed you.
"Sport is meant to be a healthy and enjoyable experience and we are sorry that this was clearly not the experience for some who participated in our gymnastics program."
He said the institute accepted the review's recommendations and had already begun implementing them.
Double hip replacement, opiates addiction
One participant described developing arthritis in her late 20s and was told by her doctor she would need a double hip replacement because of the gymnastics.
"He said all my old stretching positions are probably how it started," the woman told the review.
"Gymnastics led me to a 15-year addiction to opiates (to manage the pain)."
SIA said many gymnasts said they felt "completely discarded the moment they walked away from the program, and there was no post-retirement support."
"Some of the girls that had terrible injuries, hip replacements and things like that, and apparently not even a phone call to see how they are," one woman said.
Parents cut off from their children
Parents were also discouraged from contact with their children competing in away events.
A 2016 WAIS policy document states parents, friends and family of travelling gymnastics team members were discouraged from any contact with their child during competitions.
They were required to travel on different flights, stay at different accommodations and only visit their child at the team accommodation "upon request by a team official or during an organised visit".
The rationale for this was to stop parents "diving in and out offering advice" that would conflict with what gymnasts were told by coaches.
Parents were also asked not to attend training sessions or phone their children directly.
The report said participants who were surprised by the allegations frequently asked why the children's parents had not intervened.
"It is difficult to reconcile the 'where were the parents' question with the policies of 'no watching at the gym' and 'no travelling with gymnasts to competitions'", the report said.
"The policies created an environment that isolated the gymnasts from their parents and did not offer parents the transparency they ought to have had."
Body shaming leaves lasting damage
The review cites a WAIS policy document titled "Interpreting your daughter's skinfold measurement (1997)" that states gymnasts need speed and power, and excess fat will increase mass, slow them down and cause stress-related injuries.
It also notes gymnastics is an "aesthetic sport and there is a high degree of 'looking the part'."
"A good self-image goes a long way in enhancing the gymnast's confidence and the way she presents herself on the floor," the document says.
Many former child gymnasts spoke of being subject to repeated skin fold tests, twice-daily weigh-ins and having their food intake monitored.
The report notes a disparity between what the women reported in relation to weight-shaming rhetoric and what coaches reported.
"The coaches and management who came forward to speak with Sport Integrity Australia did not recall using the word ‘fat’ or any word like it being used," the report said.
"However, numerous complainant gymnasts recall not only the use of weight-shaming rhetoric but also the after-affects that the use of such language towards young girls in their formative years has had."
One former child gymnast told the review:
"I remember I was still in primary school and I had made a very conscious effort to lose weight, and the praise that you get and in front of other girls, so it works both ways.[…] that positive reinforcement if you lose weight or your skin folds were good."
Many former gymnasts reported continuing to weigh themselves multiple times a day into adulthood, and having poor body image.
Abuse 'reasonably likely'
The SIA report found it was "reasonably likely" some gymnasts suffered abuse and/or harm while participating in the program.
The review heard from 92 people in total, including former gymnasts, parents, coaches and support staff.
It recommends WAIS sign up to the National Integrity Framework that provides an independent complaint handling process.
It also calls for WAIS to ensure all programs involving children are child-focused and age-appropriate and embed athlete wellbeing into all of its policies, procedures and practices.
Finally, it calls for WAIS to engage in a "restorative and reconciliatory process" with those impacted by the gymnastics program, and that process should include an apology to gymnasts.
However, the report notes the review was undertaken to identify systemic issues and make suggestions on how to improve in future, not to make disciplinary decisions.
"As such, the review does not single out any one person who may or may not have been responsible for the conduct, but rather highlights the inadequacies in the safeguarding processes, " the report says.
Abuse occurred just six years ago, gymnasts say
The Gymnast Alliance Australia (GAA) welcomed the release of the report but said WAIS had downplayed the allegations as being historical.
"The abuse occurred as recently as six years ago and should not be dismissed as historical," a statement from GAA said.
"While the WAIS WAG program closed in 2016, the lessons learned from SIA's review apply equally to other sports at WAIS and other sporting bodies dealing with child athletes."
Spokeswoman and former Olympian Jen Smith said "without enforcement of policies and measures to hold abusive coaches, support staff and incompetent governance procedures accountable, it will all be meaningless".
“We know SIA does not have the power to sanction or even impose better child safeguarding practices unless WAIS adopts their National Integrity Framework voluntarily," she said.
"But, after 18 months of fighting to even have a voice in our dealings with WAIS, we are disappointed that the lead federal agency for sport integrity matters has not recommended those responsible for the abuse be fully and independently investigated and held accountable.
"We, therefore, call on the Western Australian Government and Gymnastics Australia to do so."
State government needs to 'step up'
Former WAIS gymnast Julia Murcia said they did not want to be having to front the media again in five or ten years because nobody had been held accountable, allowing more young girls to fall victim.
"I think the state government needs to step up and review WAIS as an organisation that's shown over 30 years to turn a blind eye to abuse," Ms Murcia said.
"And there are some people at top level who were part of the abuse for the entirety of the program, so I think that's a massive red flag for Western Australia's premier sporting body.
"As every Premier before him, Mark McGowan has said he's proud of WAIS as an organisation and there are things in WAIS to be proud of ... but I don't think he and any other West Australian would be proud of the abuse we suffered in the program.
She questioned how many millions of dollars could be pumped into sports organisations without child safety and well-being audits being undertaken.
"This narrative that the complaints are historical, and we shouldn't worry about it, and everything has changed, is completely false and quite frankly offensive.
"We haven't seen enough change in 30 years."
