Becky and Ellie Downie say bullying and abuse in Great Britain gymnastics ‘completely normalised’

Becky and Ellie Downie say bullying and abuse was “completely normalised” and deeply rooted within the culture of gymnastics.

The Downie sisters, who have both represented Britain at the Olympic Games, put out a joint statement on Thursday evening after dozens of gymnasts at all levels came forward with allegations against coaches in the sport in the wake of the powerful Netflix documentary Athlete A.

The Downies said they had taken the time to reflect on their own experiences and that they recognised the “environment of fear” that other gymnasts have described.

“We certainly didn’t realise how wrong it was at the time,” the statement read. “It’s taken years and years to understand and come to terms with it.

“For too long the health and wellbeing of young girls has been of secondary important to a dated, cruel and – we’d argue – often ineffective culture within women’s gymnastics training.”

Becky Downie, 28, revealed that she had regularly been “over-trained to the point of physical breakdown”. She said when she tried to raise the problem at a national camp in 2018, “I was shot down, called ‘mentally weak’ and told the injury pain levels were in my head”.

Ellie Downie, 20, said that she had been made to feel “ashamed” of her weight for almost her entire career.

“From 14 years old I’ve been told to diet constantly,” she said. “This never-ending focus on my weight has left deep scars which will never be healed, I suspect.

“After a deep emotional battle, I’ve finally found a place to be happy with my body outside of the gym, but I’ll always feel overweight whenever I’m in a gymnastics setting.

“We’ve seen too many girls descend into eating disorders and mental health problems because of this, and while this is changing, there is still a culture of less is best.”

UK Sport, which funds Olympic sports including gymnastics, said the allegations are “shocking and upsetting”. An independent review is now investigating the culture within British gymnastics.

Read more

How a group of female gymnasts exposed decades of sexual abuse