On July 29, 2020, the
Netherlands Federation
decided to stop the preparation program of the women's team for the
Tokyo Olympics in
order to investigate the methods of some of their coaches.
This occurred as a result of
former
gymnasts such as
Joy Goedkoop
,
Loes Linders
or
Stephanie Tijmes
,
claiming
that they suffered abuse by the team's technical team.
The federation did not hesitate to remove the coach of the national team: Vicent Wevers.
Now the organization, in order to clarify the situation, has carried out a study in which it is confirmed that
more than 60% of the former Dutch gymnasts
who have participated in this research have suffered some type of
abuse
throughout their sports careers.
Among the behaviors mentioned are humiliation, insults, negative criticism in front of other colleagues, intimidation, blackmail and, in some cases, physical violence, said the 410-page report entitled "Asymmetric bars."
"Conversations with former athletes make it clear that the awareness that they are victims of unacceptable treatment only happens when they have left the sport," the study says.
"Very young athletes spend many hours of intensive training with the coach," which results in a power relationship between the two that becomes "a risk factor," says the research findings.
7% of former athletes claimed to have suffered some type of sexual intimidation, such as touching, inappropriate comments or harassment through social networks
.
However, none of the respondents claimed to have been forced to have sex against their will.
Abuse
The research also includes excerpts from interviews with current gymnasts, some of them still teenagers, and with their parents.
"Even if he fell, he had to get up right away. He always had to keep going and couldn't cry," said one of the parents.
Most of the insults were directed at the alleged excess weight of the victims, while the coercion was directed at them to continue training despite suffering injuries.
The Royal Netherlands Gymnastics Federation has ensured that it will adopt the recommendations made in the report, such as the presence of supervisors during training sessions or including pedagogical issues in the training of technicians.
The president of the federation,
Monique Kempff
, apologized at a press conference held on Wednesday and said that from now on "no one should look away."
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