Sydney (AFP)

Bodies excessively twisted to make them more flexible, sexual assault, teenage girls humiliated because they are still too big: in Australia, a report published on Monday draws up a damning state of the practice of gymnastics in recent decades.

"I had a good life despite gymnastics," testifies a former high-level athlete on condition of anonymity, among the fifty or so people questioned by the Australian Human Rights Commission for this report (AHRC).

"But I had to deal with the physical and psychological consequences (of the sport). I sincerely wish I had never been in the gym's elite."

The testimonies are chilling throughout the report, which portrays Australian gym in its worst light.

"The reporting and investigation of cases of abuse, child neglect, misconduct, intimidation, sexual harassment and assault (...) are not implemented" in the gym, deplores the AHRC, which also points to medical negligence and racist and sexist remarks against gymnasts.

"She (the trainer) was stretching me to the point that I wanted to die. The pain was excruciating ... If I tensed or cried from the pain, she would count slower," said a former gymnast.

“A lot of times when we were stretching in the gym, (the trainer) would have an erection, which I felt he was pushing repeatedly on my hips or back while groaning and sighing,” another narrated.

“The first time I was told I was fat, I was 11 and weighed 22 kilos,” recalls a third.

The Australian Gymnastics Federation, which commissioned the investigation from the AHRC, "apologized wholeheartedly to all the athletes who were abused as well as to their families."

She promised to adopt the 12 recommendations proposed by the report.

Gymnastics has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent years.

In the United States, Larry Nassar, the former doctor of the American gymnastics team, was convicted of sexually assaulting at least 265 high-level gymnasts like the four-time Olympic champion, Simone Biles, for two decades.

In Great Britain, champions have also denounced abuses within their discipline.

In early April, former Greek gymnasts claimed to have suffered decades of abuse "akin to torture" by their coaches.

© 2021 AFP