Darcey believes that the culture among coaches needs to change and says that more needs to be done to avoid similar events in the future.
- When we look back at some of the fantastic moments from the Olympics in Tokyo, we must also admit that we have failed to keep up when our organization has grown rapidly in recent years, he says and continues:
- We know that there are many methods in the sport that are good in the UK, but we must make it clear to all members that abusive methods such as training the injured, bullying, shouting and weight mockery are unacceptable.
Awareness of such methods is increasing in gymnastics, also globally.
The World Cup runner-up has testified about violations
In June, the news came that the World Cup runner-up in the needle, the British Becky Downie, was not selected for the Olympics in Tokyo.
The gymnast had testified about violations, which was suggested to be behind the petting.
"It came as a shock, but was still not surprising given how we were treated this year," Sister Ellie Downie wrote on Twitter.
Both sisters compete in gymnastics and have in the past year told about the emotional scars they carry from their careers, and have said that violations in gymnastics training are ingrained and completely normalized.