Gymnastics Ireland issues unreserved apology to black girl not given medal at event ceremony
Gymnastics Ireland has issued an unreserved apology to the family of a black girl who was not given a medal at an events ceremony in Ireland.
The incident occurred at a Gymstart event in Dublin in March 2022, when a line of children were awarded medals but a young black girl did not get one.
A video of the incident emerged in recent days and has been watched millions of times on social media.
Gymnastics Ireland apologised “for the upset that has been caused”.
In the statement issued on Monday, the governing body said it was “deeply sorry”, that it knew it needed to do more to ensure “nothing like this will happen again” and it condemned “any form of racism”.
That followed criticism from many people on social media, including US gymnastics legend Simone Biles, who posted that the video “broke her heart”, saying “there is no room for racism in any sport”.
An statement issued by the organisation on Friday had acknowledged it received a complaint from the parents of the girl alleging racist behaviour in March 2022.
Read more here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/gymnastics/66913866