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Changes I’d Like To See In Gymnastics Culture
In light of the recent documentary Athlete A
The Netflix documentary Athlete A exposed everything wrong with the culture in gymnastics. It was a system that was designed to silence and break young athletes. This system made it the perfect recipe for a pedophile like Larry Nassar to abuse hundreds of female gymnasts, the majority of them being minors for over 20 years.
While this documentary primarily focused on a scandal in USA Gymnastics (USAG), abuse cases in competitive sports are not limited to this country nor this sport. Gymnasts from Great Britain have recently spoke out about their experiences with abusive coaches as well. The documentary left many viewers angered, disgusted, saddened, and in complete shock, many people wonder if any proper changes will be made. Will an organization the USAG rebuild its system from the ground up to ensure that nothing like this will happen again? Will they run a major investigation on all of the private clubs in the United States to ensure that these club gyms are ethical and safe for the young athletes? Will other sports and national federations examine their systems to ensure that the health and safety of their athletes are prioritized over winning championships and profiting from the successes of the athletes?
