At a competition in Ireland, a young black gymnast is passed over for medals. The video is widely shared on social networks, even US gymnast Simone Biles comments. But the responsible association behaves contradictorily.
The girls line up after a gymnastics competition. They fidget happily in their leotards and wait for a referee to give them a participation medal. One girl after another gets a medal around her neck – except for one. Even though the official is standing right in front of her. Her family would still accuse the association of racism 18 months later because the only girl without a medal is black.
The incident took place in Ireland in March 2022. But the video is making waves again on X (formerly Twitter) these days. Even world-renowned US gymnast Simone Biles is getting involved.
Gymnastics Association in Ireland counters accusations of racism
Although the situation was captured on video, the Irish gymnastics association “Gymnastics Ireland” (GI) only apologized on Sunday, the family tells the British newspaper “Guardian”. The association viewed the incident as a personal dispute between the girl’s family and the referee that did not require any interference. GI also confirms this initial assessment in the newspaper.
“It’s unbelievable that a little girl is treated like this,” the mother told the Guardian. “It’s a systematic problem because if the gymnastics association publicly speaks out against it, that also means that they wouldn’t take action if something like that happened again.”
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