Over 300 Gymnasts Stand by Their Call for an Independent Third-Party Investigation

Global Athlete has been asked to release this statement on behalf of Canadian Gymnasts

Over 300 Gymnasts Stand by Their Call for an Independent Third-Party Investigation

4 April 2022: Canadian gymnasts have learned through the media that the Canadian Sport Minister convened a meeting to discuss the major sport athlete abuse crisis in Canada. This meeting excluded the very athletes who brought forward countless cases of abuse in their sport.

To date, we have not received any direct communication from the Canadian Sport Minister. From Sport Canada, Gymnasts have only received a cursory “acknowledgement of receipt” of our multiple calls for an independent third-party investigation.

The Sport Minister recognized there is a crisis. Dolefully, the very athletes who brought forward this crisis were not engaged, did not receive the official minutes of the meeting nor has the Sport Minister reached out to the athlete leaders calling for change.

Zero tolerance is about being brave to expose the abuse. All of it. Zero tolerance is about allowing athletes to share their lived experiences to provide healing and closure and it is about bringing abusers to justice. It is horrendous that abusers and enablers remain active in Canadian Gymnastics. Sport Canada and the Canadian Government have an inherent duty of care to protect the rights, freedoms and safety of children, youth, and elite athletes.

The excessive athlete abuse in Canada is a call to action for every athlete, parent and fan to stand together to demand reform. This abuse of our athletes must be stopped. It is extremely disappointing that Canadian politicians are celebrating minor victories while athletes suffer in pain. Gymnasts should not be expected to sit idle in silence.

Our fellow gymnasts from the United States of America watched/experienced their leadership follow the same path; meetings were convened, headline wars waged, and athletes’ cries were cast aside. American sport leaders and government refused to act. If not for the American gymnasts’ strength and relentless calls for investigations and reforms their abuse would have never been brought to light. Canadian gymnasts will no longer be silenced; we will no longer accept being locked out. We have a voice, and we will use it until Sport Canada and the Canadian Government supports our calls for a third-party independent investigation.

Athletes have lost confidence in the Canadian sport system. Our calls for reform and independent third-party investigation have been persistent and loud, but they continue to be cast aside and ignored by those seeking to maintain centralized unaccountable power. Sport administrators fear a robust, fully independent, and effective investigation precisely because such a system would hold the perpetrators of institutional abuse accountable.

We stand steadfastly united in our calls for a truly independent, third-party investigation into the toxic culture and abuse practices within Canadian Gymnastics. Furthermore, all Canadian athletes must be afforded the exact remedy we are demanding. Athletes can no longer have their rights suppressed.

On behalf of the hundreds of survivors,

Gymnasts4Change Canada

Media inquires: gymnasts4change_canada@outlook.com

-ENDS-