Something I think is important to note about the abuse in British Gymnastics coming to light is that just a few months ago, we heard all about how Maggie Haney got reported because a British official told someone from USAG that “if any British coach spoke to their athlete the way Maggie did to Riley, they would never coach again.” And yet here we are with actively competing British elites saying that they’re too afraid to come forward about their own experiences with abusive coaching because they are worried about retaliation from the organization. Nothing is going to change until people realize that abuse is not a USA Gymnastics culture problem, it’s a gymnastics culture problem.
(Just to be clear, I’m not blaming the specific unnamed Birmingham official for any of this. Reporting was absolutely the right thing to do and Maggie should NOT be allowed to coach again. I just think the comment about how “we would never allow this from one of our coaches” speaks to the point that abuse is much more pervasive & insidious in gymnastics than people realize.)
