Simone Biles contacts black girl not given medal during Gymnastics Ireland event

Simone Biles said that the video 'broke her heart' and she sent the little girl a video of her own after seeing the incident. Picture: Erin Hooley/AP

US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has made contact with a black girl who was not given a medal in an Irish gymnastics competition when her white competitors were.

Ms Biles said that the video “broke her heart” and she sent the little girl a video of her own after seeing the incident.

“When this video was circulating, her parents reached out,” Ms Biles wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video."

Ms Biles, who is widely lauded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, was not alone in condemning the actions seen in the video, with many people criticizing the official’s actions on social media.

But Gymnastics Ireland said the official expressed “deep regret”, describing it as an honest mistake and said that she gave the little girl a medal once she realized her error.

A complaint alleging racist behaviour by the girl’s parents was lodged after the GymSTART event held by Gymnastics Ireland in March 2022.

The allegation was investigated by Gymnastics Ireland and according to the body, both sides to the dispute engaged in a mediation process facilitated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland. This process resulted in a mutually agreed resolution in August, 2023, the body said.

“We identified the official concerned and informed the individual in question of the complaint. The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional,” a statement from Gymnastics Ireland said.

The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play.

“The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined.

“A written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family.

“We have always been and will continue to be a very inclusive sport with a very diverse community of members covering all races, ages, genders, sexualities, and socio-economic groups.”