Gymnastics Ireland 'unreservedly apologises' to girl gymnast seen in viral video

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Gymnastics Ireland says it wants to engage with the family of the young black gymnast who was the only child not given a medal during a prizegiving ceremony.

A video of the medal ceremony has been viewed millions of times online and has sparked an international backlash against the Irish association, including from Olympian gymnast Simone Biles. 

Gymnastics Ireland said it wants to work with Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari) “to listen to any suggestions they have as to how our procedures can be improved”.

The girl’s parents lodged a complaint with Gymnastics Ireland after the GymSTART event held by the organisation 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.

US Olympian Simone Biles made contact with the girl after a video of the prizegiving ceremony emerged.

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."

Simone Biles on day four of the 2023 US Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center on August 27, 2023 in San Jose, California. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

A statement from Gymnastics Ireland said on Monday: “We would like to unreservedly apologise to the gymnast and her family for the upset that has been caused by the incident at the GymSTART event in March 2022. 

"What happened on the day should not have happened, and for that, we are deeply sorry.” 

The statement added: “We are also sorry that what has happened since that date has caused further upset. 

"Please know that at all times we have been acting in good faith and with the best of intentions in trying to resolve this very difficult and sensitive matter. 

"We offered an in-person apology after the incident, as we believed this was the best approach. Subsequently, we felt mediation was the best way forward.” 

The organisation said that it recognises that “we need to do more”.

It continued: “We are committed to ensuring nothing like this will happen again. We appointed an independent expert to review our policies and procedures earlier this year and a series of recommendations have resulted which we are fully committed to implementing so that this does not ever happen again.”

An earlier statement from Gymnastics Ireland said the official involved in the medal ceremony "expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error".