Footage re-emerged in September 2023 of an incident at a Gymnastics Ireland event back in March 2022 in which a young Black girl was the only participant not to receive a medal following the competition.
Footage re-emerged in September 2023 of an incident at a Gymnastics Ireland event back in March 2022 in which a young Black girl was the only participant not to receive a medal following the competition. Eighteen months later, the young girl, who remains anonymous, and her family have finally received an apology from Gymnastics Ireland, and have even received support from US Gymnast and four-time Olympic Gold medallist, Simone Biles
The incident initially took place in March 2022, and was captured on video. The footage shows the official in charge of handing out medals pause in front of the young girl, before ignoring her and moving onto the next girl in line. Back when the footage was first released and now that it has resurfaced, people questioned whether the young girl was not awarded a medal because of the colour of her skin. The answer would appear to be so.
Back when the footage was first released and now that it has resurfaced, people questioned whether the young girl was not awarded a medal because of the colour of her skin.
Footage of the incident resurfaced in September 2023, as Gymnastics Ireland finally issued an apology to the young girl and her family, stating that “What happened on the day should not have happened and for that we are deeply sorry.’’
In the statement released by Gymnastics Ireland, they admitted, ‘we know we need to do more’. They appear to be aware of the wrong-doing that occurred during the event in March 2022 and have said that they have hired an ‘independent expert’ to review their current policies. They plan to implement the recommendations made following this review.
With footage of the incident all over social media in recent weeks, gymnastics’ most decorated superstar Simone Biles reached out to the girl and her family, offering words of encouragement and support. Biles has won four Olympic gold medals, 23 World Championship gold medals and has recently become the most decorated Gymnast of all time.
Gymnastics’ most decorated superstar Simone Biles reached out to the girl and her family, offering words of encouragement and support.
Commenting on ‘X’, Biles said ‘It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video’. In the message, Biles tells the young girl that she deserves a medal and that she is ‘rooting’ for her. One can only imagine the impact of such words of encouragement from gymnastics’ finest.
18 months after the incident, the young girl and her family can feel some slight justice as they received their long-overdue apology from Gymnastics Ireland. The young girl continues to participate in events throughout Ireland despite the discrimination she suffered in March 2022. Gymnastics Ireland said, ‘We are happy to see that the gymnast continues to participate in Gymnastics Ireland events and we look forward to welcoming her back to our future events also.’
They go on to say that they want to ‘engage with the gymnast's family and Sport Against Racism Ireland’’ in order to hear suggestions on how to improve their procedures.
They concluded their statement by saying, ‘’Finally, we would like to make it absolutely clear that Gymnastics Ireland condemns any form of racism whatsoever.’’