The parents of a young black gymnast who was skipped at a medal ceremony have criticized Gymnastics Ireland for its ‘useless’ apology.
The sporting body sparked a racism row when footage showed the young black girl being denied a medal while her white peers were all awarded awards at an event in Dublin last year.
The ten-year-old’s furious parents said they felt their daughter was being ‘blamed because she was black’.
Footage of the moment in March 2022 quickly went viral and was condemned by critics including Olympic champion Simone Biles, who described the incident as ‘heartbreaking’.
Some 18 months after the incident, Gymnastics Ireland said it “deeply regretted” the medal disqualification. But the girl’s parents claim they only apologized “because we cried for so long.
”
The parents (pictured) of a young black gymnast who was skipped at a medal ceremony have criticized Gymnastics Ireland for its ‘useless’ apology
The little girl (center) shuffles forward excitedly as she awaits the medal presentation before the referee moves on to the next gymnast in the lineup
That’s what the girl’s mother said BBC: ‘It’s painful to actually state the obvious: my daughter was the only black child in that competition, she stood out. There was no excuse for what happened. She was very angry about what had happened.
“It was almost like they were blaming her because she was black. It’s something very uncomfortable for a ten-year-old to experience.”
Her father added: “They tried to cover it up as if it hadn’t happened. They probably thought we would forget about it over time. It was painful. You have to beg for an apology.’
The incident took place at the GymStart event in Dublin last March, when all the children, except the young black girl, were given participation medals on stage.
Gymnastics Ireland apologized on Monday “for the distress caused” and said it would ensure “something like this does not happen again” as it condemned “any form of racism”.
But the girl’s mother described the apology as “so useless” and said she hasn’t even shown it to her daughter “because it’s been over a year.”
She added: “They only sent us an apology because that’s what the world wanted, because we cried for so long.
“” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
The girl’s mother told the BBC: “It was almost like they were blaming her because she was black.”
The girl was denied a medal, while all her white peers received awards
“We kind of told her that no matter the color of your skin, people shouldn’t treat you differently.”
The mother said she emailed Gymnastics Ireland the day after the incident in the hope of getting an apology for her daughter. But it was only after twelve months that the family received a short letter of apology from the local judge.
The BBC discovered that she had written another apology shortly after the event, which she sent to Gymnastics Ireland to give to the family. The family says they never received that email and only saw it last month.
Reaction to the video continues to erupt on the internet.
Team USA gymnast Simone Biles, who sent a video of support to the young girl after her parents reached out, wrote on X: “There is no room for racism in any sport, if at all.”
Ms Biles, who made history by becoming the first black woman to win the all-around title at the 2013 World Championships, has also been a victim of racism in the sport and has been vocal about tackling it.
After being targeted by athlete Carlotta Ferlito, who finished fifth behind Ms. Biles in the competition, Biles said all athletes of color have shared similar experiences.
“You just have to keep going for those little ones who look up to us,” she said.
‘It doesn’t matter what you look like. You can strive for greatness, and you can be great.”
Olympic champion Simone Biles condemned the ‘heartbreaking’ incident and said she had sent a video of support to the young girl
In her video for the young gymnast, Ms Biles said: “I just wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated recently at your GymStart event.
‘I was completely shocked and wanted to let you know that you deserve a medal just like all the other girls.
“I know you’ve worked incredibly hard in the sport and I wanted to say I’m rooting for you from here. Sending you all the best and knowing there are so many of us here to support you.”
Olympic silver medalist US team member Jordan Chiles also labeled the incident as “extremely hurtful on so many levels.”
She suggested she also wanted to get in touch with the young athlete and asked the gymnastics community to help identify her.
After it resurfaced, the clip was labeled “disgraceful” and “hard to watch” by X users.
On Monday, Gymnastics Ireland issued a statement saying: ‘On behalf of the board and staff of Gymnastics Ireland, we would like to apologize unreservedly to the gymnast and her family for the upset caused by the incident at the GymStart event in March 2022.
“What happened that day should not have happened and we are deeply sorry.
“We are also sorry that what has happened since that date has caused further unrest.”
The governing body claimed it had issued a ‘personal apology’ and subsequently decided that ‘mediation was the best way forward’.
It continued: “We now know we must do more.
We are determined to ensure that something like this will not happen again.
‘Earlier this year we appointed an independent expert to review our policies and procedures. This has resulted in a series of recommendations that we want to fully implement so that this will never happen again.
‘We would also like to engage with the gymnast’s family and Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) to listen to any suggestions they have on how our procedures can be improved in this regard.
“We are pleased to see the gymnast continuing to compete in Gymnastics Ireland events and we look forward to welcoming her back to our future events.
“Finally, we would like to make it absolutely clear that Gymnastics Ireland condemns any form of racism.”
The sports organization said it accepts that it has taken ‘far too long to apologise’ and that delays have been caused by ‘human error, threats of legal action, third party intervention and our own understanding that this was a parental complaint was against the police’. the official’.