The incident occurred in Dublin in March 2022. But a video from the awards ceremony, showing all but the only black girl receiving a medal, has been made viral only now. The video has been seen by millions on social media and received great criticism.
"It breaks my heart to see this... There is no place for racism in any sport," gymnastics star Simone Biles wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Extremely painful"
Biles is a four-time Olympic gold medalist with 19 World Championship golds to his credit. Her national team colleague, Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles, also reacts:
"This is so incredibly painful in so many ways," Chiles writes.
The incident reverberated when it occurred 1.5 years ago and even then Biles contacted the girl's family with a private video message with his support.
The family has sought an apology from the Irish Gymnastics Federation, but to no avail. But an independent mediation has led to an agreement now being reached and the federation has announced that the woman who handed out the medals has apologized, writes the BBC.
Has been awarded a medal afterwards
According to The Guardian, the union believes that the incident is about a personal conflict between the family and the woman. But the girl's mother told the British newspaper that it was racism.
"It's a systematic problem, because when the federation doesn't distance itself from it, you show that you want it to continue," says the mother.
According to The Irish Independent, the mother is taking the matter to the International Gymnastics Federation's ethics council.
The girl has subsequently received her participant medal.