Coaches banned from weighing gymnasts as part of sweeping welfare policies in British Gymnastics

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN

London (CNN) — Coaches will no longer be allowed to weigh gymnasts under one of several policies designed to tackle reports of “bullying, harassment and excessive control” in the sport in the UK.

Only gymnasts over the age of 10 can be weighed in a gymnastics setting under the new British Gymnastics policies, announced on Wednesday, and the weighing of gymnasts must always be with the gymnast’s consent and be performed by “qualified sport science or medical practitioners … and with clear, scientifically valid rationale,” the governing body said in a statement provided to CNN Sport.

The policies, the first in series of new measures aimed at improving athlete welfare, also state that coaches are not allowed to weigh gymnasts and must ensure that they are given adequate hydration and toilet opportunities. Gymnasts also must not be forced to miss formal education classes for gymnastics training under the new policies.

The measures come after a damning independent review in June 2022 concluded that British Gymnastics allowed for a culture of physical and emotional abuse and failed to provide a safe environment for gymnasts, with children body-shamed, belittled and abused.

Conducted by barrister Anne Whyte, the review concluded that British Gymnastics should have been aware of the “bullying, harassment and excessive control” that occurred in training clubs between 2008 and 2020.

Former gymnast Claire Heafford told CNN Sport in 2022 that she experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after competing in British gymnastics in the 1990s, when she alleges that she was physically and emotionally abused.

“My own experience was that I was trained by the first Russian that was brought over to the UK in the 90s,” Heafford told CNN’s Amanda Davies.

“I grew up in a Soviet training camp in the heart of the home counties [the counties surrounding London]. It was too bizarre to be believed. So as a kid just at an ordinary state school, trying to explain to my school friends what my training life was like was difficult,” she said.

In the 2022 report, Whyte highlighted the “recruitment of a significant number of coaches” from the former Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc.

“The technical skill and experience of these coaches, whilst formidable, was sometimes accompanied by an attitude to the gymnast which was autocratic and dismissive and left athletes feeling like commodities,” Whyte wrote, adding that the ability of these coaches to produce decorated gymnasts was admired and later emulated by coaches in the UK.

Heafford says what she experienced in the 1990s mirrors incidents reported to Whyte, who was commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England to review allegations that British Gymnastics failed to address complaints for decades.

“When you do try to raise the alarm as a child and you’re shut down, it makes you think that if you do speak out, you’re not going to be believed,” Heafford, who left the sport in 1995, told CNN.

“From that point on, I never watched gymnastics. I got the hell away from it. And I went into athletics, which is where I had wonderful experiences, and I loved every minute of being a track and field athlete. So it was only when I stopped competing that I started to get PTSD symptoms showing up from my time in gymnastics.”

At the time of the release of the Whyte report, British Gymnastics chief executive Sarah Powell admitted that the organization failed the sport of gymnastics and apologized on behalf of the sporting body.

In British Gymnastics’ Wednesday statement, Powell said: “Above all else, we care about gymnasts as people, and these new policies make clear that what matters most in gymnastics is the welfare of those involved.

“While practices have moved on a long way, we know there has been poor practice in these areas and so by providing clarity for gymnasts, parents and carers, coaches, clubs, volunteers and officials through the statements set out in these policies it will ensure everyone understands what is OK and what is not OK and help prevent that happening in the future.”

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