Abuse in gymnastics

In 1995, the Women's Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) program at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) faced accusations of abuse, with Coach Mark Calton being accused of hitting a 10 year old gymnast, with two other girls stating that their coach used emotional abuse calling them "fat" and "ugly".[11][12][13] Within the same year, a former AIS gymnast filed a lawsuit against the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), alleging that the training regime at the AIS had caused her to suffer from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder condition.[12][14] As a result, Sports Minister John Faulkner commissioned an independent investigation to examine these allegations of physical and psychological abuse, conducted by sports lawyer, Hayden Opie.[11][12][13][15]

This subsequent report, known as the Opie report, claimed that the physical assault of the 10 year old gymnast by her coach had resulted after the gymnast "provoked Calton into losing his self-control", but ultimately did not find he had struck her with Opie recommending counselling for the coach - not the gymnast - and dismissed the emotional abuse as the terms "fat" and "ugly" were often use in high-performance training centres such as the AIS environment. Ultimately, the Opie report concluded "No systematic or widespread abuse of AIS female gymnasts has been found to occur at any time. Major change at the AIS is not necessary.".[11][12][13][15]

However, this inquiry has been criticised for being constrained by a narrow framework that did not address the broader issues present in the sport, resulting in the report providing recommendations that treated the symptoms rather than tackling the underlying problems and further legitimising and approving of the activities occurring that had upset parents and athletes.[12] Critics also pointed out that "All parties involved in the sport of gymnastics had an interest in containing any perceived problems that might threaten the sport."[12]

In July 2003, gymnastics coach Geoffery Robert Dobbs was formally sentenced for life in jail with no prospect of parole on charges of molesting and producing child sexual abuse material of 62 girls aged from 12 months to 15 years old between 1972 and 1999.[16][17] Detectives believed that in total, he may have abused more than 300 girls, leaving up to 240 alleged victims unaccounted for.[18] His victims included athletes whom he had obtained access to through his role as a gymnastics coach.[19]

In 2021, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) responded to enquiries by the ABC to confirm the 2013 suspension of husband and wife coaches, Sasha and Olga Belooussov, for an 18 month period for the verbal abuse of a gymnast.[20]

This suspension had remained unreported for eight years due to the complaint handling process by Gymnastics Australia (GA), which had meant that those involved, including the verbally abused gymnast and GA, were barred from speaking due to confidentiality provisions.[20]

Despite this period of suspension, the Belooussov couple returned to coaching gymnastics in Australia, returning to their roles as personal coaches for Georgia Godwin (Australian Commonwealth Games and Olympian medalist), GA assistant coach, coaching at Queensland gymnastics club Delta Gymnastics, and winning the GA WAG International Coach/Coaching Team of the Year Award in 2019.[20][21][22]

During January 2018, the gymnastics world was exposed to the horrors of abuse in gymnastics as the Larry Nassar abuse trial played out publicly, raising awareness of child safety in sports, particularly within gymnastics, with victim Aly Raisman urging sporting bodies to ensure safeguards to ensure the mistakes of the United States were not repeated.[23]

In response to the Larry Nassar case, Gymnastics Australia (GA) CEO Kitty Chiller made a statement regarding how the USA scandal had prompted GA to carry out an audit of their processes and policies, including an education process to empower "any young member or any member of a gymnastics association to know that they have a voice and to know where that voice will be heard."[23] Kitty Chiller denied that GA had an existing problem with child abuse, stating "there's never been any evidence or complaints that anyone's been unhappy within the Gymnastics Australia environment" and GA's audit did not uncover any practices that needed to be changed.[24]

However, within the same year, parents reported to Gymnastics Australia that their children as young as eight were being regularly verbally and physically abused at the GA National Centre of Excellence (NCE) in Melbourne.[25]

In these complaints, parents alleged their children were punished via methods such as "making them swing on the bar until their hands bled, doing squats until their knees gave out, or making them do handstands and stay upside down until they felt sick and fell over"[25] with punishments being given for any misdemeanour from being perceived as not paying attention or being cheeky to not performing to the coach's standards. Athletes were also allegedly regularly yelled at multiple times within a training session, and not being allowed to comfort one another, with training sessions being closed to parents despite medical appointments occurring during training sessions.[25] ABC News confirmed 16 parents, with the majority of their children being under the age of 15 years old and spending between 20 and 33 hours a week training at the NCE.[25]

When the parents took their complaints formally to GA, GA appointed an independent investigator in May. However, after receiving an interim report from the independent investigator, GA closed the investigation in August, with a letter from Kitty Chiller to the parents citing that the majority of allegations were "incomplete" and "based on the investigator's interim report, GA did not find that any staff member was in breach of their employment with GA".[25] This letter also stated that "the investigation took longer than anticipated and an extension would likely increase the burden placed on all parties involved" with no fault or wrongdoing being concluded.[13]

George Tatai, who spent 21 years on the GA board and eight years as a member of the International Gymnastics Federation, holding an Order of Australia Medal for his work in the sport, spoke out against the way that GA handled this investigation stating that they were paying lip-service to the parents' concerns and protecting GA ahead of the athletes.[25]

"It [Gymnastics Australia] seems to have morphed into an organisation that is protecting the organisation ahead of the interest of the athletes and the community."

— George Tatai, "National Centre of Excellence inflicting cruel 'punishments' on child gymnasts, parents allege", ABC News, 2018

One of the mothers then went on to make a formal complaint in 2020, using the newly formed GA independent complaints process, the "Supplementary Complaints Management Process" (SCMP), to allege that Kitty Chiller should not have closed this investigation as the CEO of Gymnastics Australia at the time. This 2020 complaint was then closed and never investigated, being deemed out of scope as the SCMP limited valid complaints to only those involving direct conduct towards an athlete, therefore excluding officials who may have handled historical complaints or had knowledge of abuse from investigation under this process.[26]

However new information was discovered in 2022 in Senate Estimates that found that the SCMP was co-drafted by those within Kitty Chiller's office, with GA providing input into the policy's design instead of the process being fully independent.[26]

When the SCMP policy was announced in 2020, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) and the National Sports Tribunal (NST) had released a media statement confirming they would play a key role in the SCMP policy, with SIA facilitating an independent and comprehensive assessment of individual complaints and assisting with the management and coordination of investigation in accordance with assessor recommendations while NST planned to provide mediation, conciliation and tribunal hearings as needed.[27]

With the release of this information within the Senate Estimates, ABC News began an investigation to explore who had made the decision to exclude officials from investigations under the SCMP, resulting in SIA, NST and GA all making conflicting statements to the ABC reporters. SIA stated that it was GA who was ultimately responsible for the SCMP, with the policy being developed by the NST for the board of GA to provide approval with SIA's input being only on sections relevant to their role. The NST statement stated that SCMP was a GA policy, and as such, GA was involved in its development up to board level, noting that both SIA and the NST assisted GA in its development. Meanwhile however, GA distanced itself completely from the policy, stating that the policy " was developed by the NST, with input from SIA, in relation to their role in the process. This policy was endorsed by the Gymnastics Australia Board."[26]

In 2020, the documentary film Athlete A was released, following investigative journalists as they broke the story of USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulting young female gymnasts, and the following allegations and trials around USA Gymnastics regarding the abuse they had suffered.[28][29]

In the aftermath of the documentary release, dozens of Australian gymnasts took to social media to speak their own allegations of abuse within Australian gymnastics, exposing that the culture wasn't unique to gymnastics within the U.S.[30][31] As a result, Gymnastics Australia (GA) announced an independent review into its own culture and practices, stating "those experiences are simply not acceptable."[31][32] For this review, GA requested the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to act as the independent body to ensure the integrity of the review, with the report completed in 2021.[31][32]

This report was undertaken by a dedicated team of AHRC staff, led by the Sex Discrimination Commission with input from the National Children's Commissioner, who all had expertise in responding sensitively in a trauma informed way to a range of issues such as sexual assault, sexual harassment and abuse. The original planned release date was within the first quarter of 2021, however due to the community interest in the review, AHRC extended the consultation timeline to allow more participation with the review.[33]

Participation opened in September 2020, with all past and present members of the gymnastics community in Australia including athletes, coaches, staff, volunteers and administrators being encouraged to participate through a series of focus groups, interviews and written submissions.[31][34] Policies and procedures were also reviewed, alongside the way these policies and procedures were implemented with the governance structures surrounding these.[31]

During the undertaking of investigation, athletes spoke out about the abusive techniques used in gymnastics training to the media with lawyers forming groups to consider taking legal action, as the athletes stated that the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) had ignored allegations of physical and psychological abuse for decades.[35][36]

AHRC received 138 written submissions to the enquiry,[36][37][38] with 47 interviews being conducted with 57 participants included current and former athletes, their families, staff, coaches and other relevant personnel.[37][38]

AHRC launched the final version of the report on May 3, 2021.[37][38][39] This report uncovered an environment where winning was focused on at all costs, normalising abuse due to the lack of understanding and prevention of the full range of child abuse and neglect behaviours in gymnastics, with a governance structure set up in an unsuitable manner for effective child safeguarding.[38][40]

The five overarching key findings of the report were:

• "Current coaching practices create a risk of abuse and harm to athletes. Additionally, hiring practices for coaching staff lack accountability and there are inconsistent policies and systems to regulate their behaviour."
• "There is an insufficient focus on understanding and preventing the full range of behaviours that can constitute child abuse and neglect in gymnastics."
• "A focus on ’winning-at-all-costs’ and an acceptance of negative and abusive coaching behaviours has resulted in the silencing of the athlete voice and an increased risk of abuse and harm with significant short and long term impacts to gymnasts."
• "There is an ongoing focus in gymnastics on the ‘ideal body’, especially for young female athletes. This, in addition to inappropriate and harmful weight management and body shaming practices, can result in the development of eating disorders and disordered eating which continue long after the athlete has left the sport."
• "Gymnastics at all levels has not appropriately and adequately addressed complaints of abuse and harm and are not effectively safeguarding children and young people. Contributing factors include a lack of internal expertise and resources and complicated governance structures."[37][41]

A total of 12 recommendations were also made as a result of this review, including:

1. "Transform education to skills development for coaches"
2. "Strengthen coach engagement and accountability"
3. "Develop a national social media policy"
4. "Broaden the sport’s understanding of child abuse and neglect"
5. "Encourage and promote athlete empowerment and participation"
6. "Provide a formal acknowledgement and apology to all members of the gymnastics community in Australia who have experienced any form of abuse in the sport"
7. "Develop a skills-based training and support program for all athletes to prevent and address eating disorders and disordered eating"
8. "Develop and refine resources relating to body image, weight management practices and eating disorders, to improve consistency and support effective implementation"
9. "All matters regarding child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, sexual harassment, and assault be investigated externally of the sport"
10. "Establish interim and ongoing oversight over relevant complaints at all levels of the sport"
11. "Establish a toll-free triage, referral and reporting telephone service operated by SIA"
12. "Align current governance with Sport Australia’s Sport Governance Principles more consistently and effectively"[37][41]

During this review, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) was recommended by AHRC as the appropriate independent body to which abuse allegations in sport should be made, with SIA receiving 35 abuse allegations resulting in seven investigations which remained ongoing after the report's release.[40] In response to the investigation, SIA introduced their National Integrity Framework for all sports in Australia in March 2021, including an independent complaints handling model for all sports which they encouraged all sports to adopt to ensure the independent and transparent handling of complaints moving forward.[40][42] By the end of 2022, the Framework and the policies under it had been adopted by 81 recognised National Sports Organisations (NSO) in Australia,[42] and adoption of the Framework and its policies was a requirement by any sporting organisation applying to be a ASC/Sport Australia recognised NSO.[43]

Nonetheless the introduction of the National Integrity Framework as the independent body for complaints saw controversy, with concerns were raised about a conflict of interest held by the SIA NST CEO, John Boultbee. John Boultbee was the director of the AIS from 1995 to 2001, overseeing a wide range of sports under the AIS banner, leading to the potential for a conflict of interest, that John himself acknowledged, if there were any hearings held for complaints regarding his time at the AIS. However, John stated that in the event there were any matter that related to his time at the AIS, he would recuse himself from any role in the complaint.[44] A further conflict of interest was raised in 2022, as GA CEO, Kitty Chiller, left her GA role to become deputy chief executive of the NST, however the NST confirmed that Kitty Chiller would have no involvement in any gymnastics matter that came to tribunal.[26][45]

The AHRC report details that abuse was occurring within the AIS gymnastics programs as early as the 1980s, not long after the AIS was established.[44] ASC followed recommendation 6, releasing an apology statement to AIS athletes and setting up an independent and confidential support service called "AIS Be Heard" which was available to any former AIS athletes and staff members to link with existing support services.[46] The AIS then launched a restoration payment scheme, offering former athletes payments ranging from $5000 to a maximum of $50,000 if they suffered abuse during their time as scholarship holders between 1981 and 2013 as well counselling and support services and the opportunity to engage with senior representatives from the ASC and AIS.[47][48]

Gymnastics Australia also followed this recommendation, releasing a statement stating that it "unreservedly apologises to all athletes and family members who have experienced any form of abuse participating in the sport" and announcing its intention to adopt all 12 recommendations as overseen by their newly formed integrity committee.[38][41][49][50]

During the course of the investigation in late 2020, GA stated in its 2020 annual report that it had formally commenced the on-boarding process of signing up to the National Redress Scheme, a scheme designed to assist people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse gain access to counselling, a personal response and redress payment.[51] However, it had not yet formally joined this scheme by November 2022, with gymnasts speaking out regarding this broken promise.[19]

In March 2022, GA CEO, Kitty Chiller, left her role at Gymnastics Australia to become deputy CEO of the National Sports Tribunal, where she would have no involvement in any gymnastics matters that came before the NST.[26][45][52][53]

During the course of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) investigation, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) was recommended as the appropriate independent body where abuse allegations within Australian sport should be reported.[40] At the conclusion of the AHRC report, SIA had received 35 abuse allegation complaints within the four month window that had been open for this, however only seven were assessed as worthy of an investigation that was ongoing after the release of the AHRC report.[40][54] Four of the complaints were then returned with a finding of "neither substantiated or unsubstantiated", with the findings letter reminding complainants to maintain confidentiality with the families stating that they felt the process had let them down with their complaints not being properly heard or judged.[54]

Further action was then taken by Gymnastics Australia in 2022, with the launch of their Restorative Engagement Program in early 2022. This program was designed to provide a platform for individuals and groups to formally convey their personal experiences and inform prospective changes to procedures, guidelines and behaviours within Gymnastics Australia control.[55][56] All athletes and their families who had made a formal complaint as part of the SCMP policy facilitated by SIA and NST in 2020 were invited to take part in this program, with participation being voluntary.[55] This program was however condemned by the female gymnasts and their families as Gymnastics Australia asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as part of their participance while GA had not yet publicly acknowledged any of the abuse complaints handled by SIA after the AHRC's report release.[56]

As part of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) review of gymnastics, a group of 20 former Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) gymnasts signed a joint submission regarding the physical, emotional and psychological abuse that was part of the training culture at WAIS.[57] These gymnasts then participated in an ABC investigation regarding this abuse, which led to WAIS to self-refer these allegations for investigation to Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) in April 2021.[57][58]

In early May 2021, in response to the release of the AHRC gymnastics report, WAIS board chair, Neil McLean released an apology statement,[59][60] with former WAIS gymnasts criticising this the apology as weak, tokenistic, disingenuous and downplaying their abusive experiences:[61][62]

"On behalf of the WAIS board and management we offer our sincere apologies to any person who has experienced distress or injury associated with their participation in the WAIS gymnastics program."

— Neil McLean, Western Australian Institute of Sport Board Chair

In June 2021, SIA confirmed that they would independently investigate the abuse allegations from WAIS gymnasts, seeking to understand the culture of the WAIS program from its period of operation from 1987 to 2016 and examine the athletes' experience of abuse and harm along with the institute's current child safe policies and procedures and their effectiveness. All athletes, families, staff, coaches and personnel who participated in the WAIS WAG program were invited to make submissions, with WAIS chief executive, Steve Lawrence, removing himself from any involvement in the review to avoid a conflict of interest.[63][64]

The investigation included interviews and written submissions from 92 participants and the examination of over 15,000 pages of documentation, with the final report being handed down in April 2022.[65] This report found that "it was reasonably likely that some gymnasts suffered abuse and/or harm while participating in the Program at WAIS. This includes things such as verbal and physical abuse, unnecessary skinfold testing, weight-shaming, the expectation to train and compete with injuries, and extreme training loads. The Review also found that the policies and procedures that governed the Program did not adequately protect some of the gymnasts."[65]

Four recommendations were handed down as part of this report, which included:

1. "On the grounds that there was no effective complaint process for gymnasts to raise concerns, Sport Integrity Australia recommended that WAIS adopt the National Integrity Framework and the associated independent complaint handling process.
2. On the basis that some of the practices were inappropriate for children, Sport Integrity Australia recommended that WAIS ensure that all sports programs involving children are child-focused and age appropriate.
3. In recognition of the importance of athlete welfare and the risk of potential long-term harm to athletes, Sport Integrity Australia recommended that WAIS continue to embed athlete wellbeing into policies, procedures and practices in all sport programs.
4. In recognition of the harm and/or abuse reasonably likely to have been suffered by some gymnasts, Sport Integrity Australia recommended that WAIS, in collaboration with the impacted gymnasts, engage in a restorative and reconciliatory process."[65][66]

Former WAIS gymnasts responded to the report stating that the recommendation that they received an apology for the abuse did not go far enough, with calls for the state government and national sporting peak body to hold those who were responsible accountable with further consequences. The Gymnast Alliance Australia (GAA) also released a statement responding to the report, criticising WAIS downplaying the allegations as being historical, with abuse occurring as recently as six years prior to the report's release and also calling for the Western Australian Government and Gymnastics Australia to hold those responsible accountable with independent investigations.[67]

WAIS responded to the report with another public apology, stating "We are sorry that your experiences were painful rather than enjoyable and we apologise that elements of the WAIS program failed you. To those who experienced abuse and harm we apologise. Sport, elite sport included, is meant to be a healthy and enjoyable experience. We are sorry that this was not your experience." This apology was critiqued upon its release for also included the statement "Can we also note that SIA referred a number of allegations of sexual abuse and/or physical abuse to the relevant authorities who had the jurisdiction to investigate these allegation but none of these allegations progressed to investigation or charges and all have been closed".[68]

In June 2022, the Western Australian government issued a formal apology to WAIS gymnasts who had suffered abuse and mistreatment, with Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman directing the department to undertake a comprehensive governance and culture review of WAIS and the formation of a Specialist Child Safeguarding Unit for sport. It was also announced that the WA Government Department of Sport and Recreation would also oversee and audit WAIS's compliance and implementation of the recommendations in the SIA report.[69]

In May 2023, WAIS released a second apology, acknowledging that their April 2022 apology fell short as they prepared to participate in the recommended Reconciliatory and Restorative Process.[70] The WAIS board also released a public commitment on the same day that included the updated apology and details on how WAIS was committing to acting in the best interests of athlete health, wellbeing and safety.[71]

In 2021, Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) referred an investigation that was conducted as part of the SCMP policy investigations to the Western Australian policy, resulting in detectives laying charges in March 2021 regarding incidents involving a former gymnastics coach between February 2019 and December 2020 while he was coaching at the Northern Districts Gymnastics Club.[72][73]

While these charges were discontinued in June 2022 by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,[74] the Northern Districts Gymnastics Club came under fire during the course of the case for not informing parents of the allegations or case, a decision the club defended despite a parent removing their child and speaking out to the media.[73]

The Northern Districts Gymnastics Club stated that once they became aware of the allegations, they sought immediate advice from authorities and stood the coach down with full pay, later terminating the coach's employment.[73] The parent stated that they felt the club should have stated that allegations and charges had been made, the club was working with police, and given information about how to broach the subject with their children to ensure nothing had happened to their child.[73]

In early 2022, the National Sport Tribunal (NST) found Peggy Liddick, who had acted as the Australian women's artistic gymnastics team coach and boss from 1997 to 2016, guilty of harassing two-time olympian gymnast, Georgia Bonora.[75][76]

While Peggy Liddick had denied the allegations of bullying and emotional abuse, Georgia Bonora's complaint had been supported by her former Australian teammates, Shona Morgan, Olivia Vivian, Chloe Gilliland and Ashleigh Brennan.[76]

The complaint was initially lodged with Gymnastics Australia (GA), before being referred to Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) in September 2020, containing allgations of misconduct, bullying and abuse between 2006 and 2012.[75] Upon review, SIA upheld five allegations against Peggy Liddick, with an appeal application to have the matter heard by the NST seeing a further three allegations dismissed with two allegations being upheld.[75][76]

As a result of the NST hearing, Peggy Liddick was suspended for four months and ordered to write an apology to Georgia Bonora:[75][76]

"Dear Georgia,

Pursuant to Order 5 of the National Sports Tribunal Determination dated 18 January 2022, as directed by the Tribunal, I apologise to you and acknowledge that I engaged in unacceptable coaching behaviours, in particular the use of negative language which was belittling, offensive and humiliating and cause great upset to you. Kind regards

Peggy Liddick"

— Peggy Liddick, Apology to Georgia Bonora

In 2017, two coaches made formal complaints to the Alberta Gymnastics Federation (AGF) alleging that coach Jamie Atkin had an inappropriate relationship with a gymnast he coached at Airdrie Edge Gymnastics, violating the code of conduct. This resulted in a suspension from AGF.[83]

Atkin avoided a formal hearing, instead agreeing to a series of terms and conditions which included ceasing all unnecessary physical conduct with the athlete, not to spend any time with the gymnast at any gym without another person present until the end of June 2018 and then to maintain a professional coach-athlete relationship, completion of business management, ethics and healthy relationships courses, and an extension of his AGF suspension until July 15, 2018.[83]

In March 2018, a parent made a complaint to AGF board chair Katie Biberdorf, and federation investigation lawyer, James Smelie, asking how the federation was ensuring these terms and conditions were being followed as there was no regulation regarding this. Biberdorf initially responded that it would be addressed with the highest priority with a report back as soon as possible, however the parent never heard back from Biberdorf again.[83]

The former president of Aidrie Edge Gymnastics Club, Brady Dalcin, then filed a formal complaint against AGF in November 2022 over its decision to keep the sanctions that had been levied in 2018 secret, stating that all coach discipline information should be made public for athlete protection. Dalcin had been a board member of the club from September 2018 to September 2020 before being the gym's president from September 2020 to June 2021, with the sanctions happening eight months before Dalcin became a board member. Due to the secrecy of these sanctions, information regarding them had never been provided to incoming officials within the gym, and upon discovery of the complaint and information, none of the Airdrie board members could answer Dalcin whether Atkin had completed the courses he agreed to within the sanctions.[83]

Jamie Atkin continues to coach at Airdrie Edge Gymnastics Club in 2022.[84]

In October 2017, Gymnastics Ontario suspended coach Scott McFarlane due to internal complaints, announcing this publicly on January 26, 2018 after McFarlane was charged with sexual offences against a 15 year old athlete he had been coaching.[85][86] Following his arrest, it came to light that five years earlier in April 2013, parents of a 12 year old gymnast from Tumblers Gymnastics Centre had gone to Ottawa police with complaints of an inappropriate relationship, however no charges were laid due to the alleged victims refusing to cooperate with authorities.[87][88]

While McFarlane was formally acquitted on the charges in November, 2022,[86] Gymnastics Canada extended their suspension pending an internal review of the allegations.[89]

The McFarlane case sparked an internal investigation in Canadian gymnastics in 2018 by Shearer Parnega, a Toronto law firm, which revealed a systematic pattern of GymCan failing to act on misconduct complaints back to 2012. The outcome report was deemed so confidential that sources who participated in the investigation had never seen a copy. GymCan was criticised for keeping this report secret in 2022, with critics stating that they were being complicit in the abuse by doing so.[87]

In December 2017, Gymnastics Canada Team Canada Head Coach, Dave Brubaker, was charged with 10 offences regarding sexual abuse of athletes under his coach. As a result, he was placed on administrative leave by Gymnastics Canada before being suspended from the organisation entirely. When the trial started in October 2018, the charges had been reduced to one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation, which Brubaker plead not guilty to.[90] In February 2019, Brubaker was acquitted of these charges, with the judge citing that the investigating police officer was too close to the complainant to conduct an unbiased investigation, with the lack of impartiality having a tangible impact on the Crown's case.[91][92]

In January 2019, a Gymnastics Canada investigation began into Dave Brubaker's wife, Elizabeth, who was provisionally suspended from coaching after written complaints regarding the time in which she was an elite coach at Bluewater Gymnastics Club.[85] GymCan CEO Ian Moss noted that some of these allegations were related to those against her husband. GymCan also began an internal investigation into the sexual abuse allegations against Dave Brubaker after his criminal proceedings case had concluded.[92]

In 2019, a group of 11 gymnasts filed a complaint with Gymnastics Canada (GymCan) against Dave Brubaker. This became part of the ongoing investigations following his legal case, which stretched across three years in total. The disciplinary committee concluded that 54 of the allegations were credible, with Dave Brubaker being banned for life from coaching gymnastics in Canada.[93][94] The investigations regarding Elizabeth Brubaker concluded with her suspension being extended until January 18, 2024, pending the completion of reinstatement conditions.[85][95][96]

Former gymnastics coach and founder of Champions Gymnastics. gym, Michel Arsenault, was. arrested in 2018 charged with two counts of sexual assault and three counts of assault relating to gymnasts he coached between 1983 and 1993, with two being minors at the time of the alleged sexual assaults.[97][98] At the time of his arrest, he was forbidden from being in contact with plaintiffs and witnesses, and forbidden from taking either paid or volunteer employment if it involved having authority over a minor.[98]

A stay of proceedings was granted in February 2021 ahead of the scheduled March 2021 trial, due to major issues with the notes of a police investigator regarding interviews and statements by complainants and witnesses, meaning a trial could not continue without greatly affecting the right of the accused to a fair and equitable trial.[97][99]

The Quebec provincial police subsequently launched an administrative probe into the investigation, investigating all of the procedures surrounding the conduct of the investigation due to great concern of how it went wrong.[100]

In 2019, Gymnastics Canada released a statement stating that national WAG team coach, Alex Bard, had resigned from his position due to personal reasons.[101][102] However media reports soon claimed that Bard was pushed out, which was confirmed by other GymCan staff members including GymCan CEO, Ian Moss, who stated that Bard had failed to improve on repeated incidents of inappropriate behaviour.[102]

However in the aftermath, details were revealed that Bard had been known to kiss young gymnasts on the lips, including on televised sporting events, harassing female coaches and touching female gymnasts inappropriately such as on the buttocks, with a complaint being taken directly to Moss in 2017 before Bard was promoted from GymCan's high performance director to GymCan WAG head coach.[102]

Bard admitted that Moss gave Bard a choice in May 2019 to either resign or face a formal investigation into the misconduct allegations,[102] which has since been crticised as giving him the "easy way out".[103]

Ian Moss defended his handling of the matter as GymCan CEO in 2023, stating that "allegations are not facts", stating that only one formal complaint was filed in regards to a contractual matter that did not need an investigation due to its nature.[104]

Despite this, Bard continued to coach in various gyms in Canada as recently as Summer 2022 due to the lack of oversight and accountability by GymCan.[102]

In June 2019, Coach Rima Nikishin was placed on an indefinite lifetime suspension by the Alberta Gymnastics Federation after a Code of Conduct investigation, with the reciprocity agreement meaning that no provincial and territorial GymCan organisation allowing Nikishin membership until further notice. A reason for this suspension has never been provided by Alberta Gymnastics Federation, and it is in place to this day.[105]

In 2021, Gymnastics Canada faced criticism for sending coach Lorie Henderson to the Tokyo Olympic Games with the gymnastics team, despite multiple abuse complaints against her remaining unresolved.[106]

These included two 2019 complaint regarding bullying behaviour and threatening language, with one including pressure to return to training prematurely after injury, as well as a 2020 complaint alleging refusal to allow a physiotherapist access to the training facility to help build a training plan for an injured athlete as well as emotional abuse of an athlete following a bad competition.[106] Another parent also confirmed an unresolved complaint to Canadian media outlet TSN, but feared speaking publicly due to repercussions for her daughter who remained actively involved in the sport.[106]

In late 2020, Gymnastics Canada suspended well-known gymnastics coach Elvira Saadi pending an investigation into abuse claims. These complaints included emotional and psychological abuse including weight-based humiliation and encouragement of eating disorders.[106][107]

On November 1, 2021, provincial organisation Gymnastics Ontario handed a lifetime suspension to gymnastics coach and gym owner, Marcel Rene, effective as of January 1, 2022. This suspension included all coaching and field of play activities, as well as operation his gymnastics club, Champion Gymnastics, other than through his son, with Gymnastics Ontario stating that they had not been appraised of information suggesting there is any risk of harm in permitting Rene the brief period of time to remove himself from the operations of Champion Gymnastics.[85]

At the time of his suspension, Rene gave media interviews stating that there was nothing nefarious about his suspension, that it did not regard Champion Gymnastics, and that Gymnastics Ontario and Rene had an agreement rider stating he could re-apply for membership with Gymnastics Ontario in three years time.[108]

However, by November 4, 2021, Gymnastics Ontario handed down an effective immediately interim suspension in which Rene was no longer allowed to coach and train athletes, attend any competitive events or camps, communicate with or contact anyone linked to Champions Gymnastics in regard to any "Field of Play" or operational issues, or to be onsite at Champion Gymnastics when there were also staff onsite.[108]

This also coincided with lawyer Jason Ward contacting the Peterborough Examiner at request of his clients, Kaylie Hengg and Tonya Kirkwood, in order to provide statements of civil claims regarding sexual harassment in the workplace at Champion Gymnastics and the results of the code of conduct and ethics investigation conducted by an independent third party on behalf of Gymnastics Ontario - the investigation that had resulted in the initial November 1 ban of Rene.[109]

In March 2022, an open letter that amassed over 400 signatures was sent to Sport Canada demanding a third party investigation into abuse allegations within gymnastics in Canada, with the Sports Minister vowing to conduct an independent investigation by late Spring. However by May 2022, no action had been taken in this regard.[110][111] At the time of this letter, a former member of GymCan's board of directors, Kim Shore, disclosed that she had received over 100 complaints from parents over the previous five years and described a coach who had physically and emotionally abused their athletes who was still working in Canada.[110] This letter also earned the support of U.S. Judge, Rosemarie Aquilina, who presided over the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case, with Judge Aquilina sending the gymasts a three minute video stating that she stood with the athletes and urging Sport Canada and the Sports Minister to instigate a third party investigation where athletes had a say and were involved in the process.[112]

In May 2022, a class action lawsuit was launched against Gymnastics Canada and the provincial gymnastics bodies across Canada in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, alleging negligence. in preventing and taking action on physical and sexual abuse within their programs.[93][111]

In July 2022, an open letter was launched by Gymnasts for Change, an independent group representing more than 500 gymnasts, alleging that Gymnastics Canada failed to protect gymnasts from abuse and urging the Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, to suspend funding and hold a third-party investigation, as this request had been ignored for months by GymCan, Sport Canada and the Government.[113] In response to this letter, the Minister publicly stated that funding would be frozen pending GymCan's participation with the new Office of Sports Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), which was founded in June 2022 to address reports of abuse in sports.[113]

GymCan announced that it had signed an agreement on October 21, 2022, to join the Canadian Federal program "Abuse-Free Sport", designed to prevent and address maltreatment in sport, with complaints then going through the new Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) as an independent complaint investigator.[114][115]

In June 2022, GymCan hired McLaren Global Sport Solutions to design a culture review for GymCan and analyse their safe sport policies and procedures.[87]

This report was made public in January 2023, with more than 1000 voices in the Canadian gymnastics community providing feedback, with a total of 58 personal interviews being conducted with a total of 974 individuals responding across two surveys. This report found that abuse and maltreatment of gymnasts was most pronounced in women's artistic gymnastics and women's rhythmic gymnastics, with a total of 46 recommendations being made for the final culture review.[6]