British Gymnastics restricts weighing athletes following abuse report

Britain placed restrictions on weighing gymnasts after a 2022 report found that there was a significant pattern of abuse within the sport.

British Gymnastics announced new policies Tuesday aimed at protecting the welfare of its athletes, including implementing restrictions on weighing gymnasts, standards for keeping athletes hydrated and ensuring that athletes’ training schedule does not negatively impact their formal education.

Under the new policies, gymnasts 11 and older must give their consent to being weighed in a gymnastics setting and with qualified sport science or medical practitioners present. The organization said the weighing of athletes must only be conducted with the athlete’s “optimal long-term development in mind, and with clear, scientifically valid rationale.”

Coaches are prohibited from weighing the gymnast’s and no athlete in the sport under the age of 11 can be weighed.

An independent investigation co-commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England found that the problems of emotional and physical abuse were “systemic” within gymnastics, the BBC reported. The report found that gymnasts were forced to train on injuries, punished for needing to use the restroom and had bags searched for food, according to the outlet.

The new policies also outlined new requirements for the hydration and wellbeing of gymnasts, saying that athletes must be allowed to drink regularly throughout training sessions. They also must be allowed to use the restroom if needed during a gymnastics session “at the earliest available opportunity.”

Coaches and gymnastics clubs are prohibited from making missing formal education for training a mandatory requirement for children. Training is not allowed to be scheduled during school hours for children under the age of 12. Those over the age of 12 can only miss formal education training “under exceptional circumstances,” the new policies stated.

British Gymnastics CEO Sarah Powell acknowledged that there has “been poor practice in these areas,” adding that the new policies should help prevent more issues in the future within the sport.

“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,” British Gymnastics CEO Sarah Powell said in a statement.