A viral video of a young Black gymnast being skipped over during a medal ceremony as her fellow White competitors received their medals has resurfaced more than a year later, and the girl's mother spoke out after Gymnastics Ireland finally issued an apology.
The incident occurred last March at a Gymnastics Ireland GymSTART event where all competitors who participated were given medals at the close of the event.
The video of the incident recently resurfaced, inciting anger and disgust from viewers who watched how the young gymnast eagerly awaited her medal—as all of the White participants received theirs—and then slowly deflated when that moment never came.
You can watch the clip, below.
Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don\u2019t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous\u2026— Mohamad Safa (@Mohamad Safa) 1695399629
The video has garnered the attraction of elite gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles and has rapidly spread across the internet over the last week, finally eliciting an apology from Gymnastics Ireland.
In a statement, the organization said:
"On behalf of the Board and staff of Gymnastics Ireland we would like to unreservedly apologize 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. We are also sorry that what has happened since that date has caused further upset."
The statement continued:
"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."
"We know now we need to do more. 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."
The organization finished the statement by noting they "condemn any form of racism whatsoever."
"We would also like to engage with the gymnast's family and Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) to listen to any suggestions they have as to how our procedures can be improved in this regard."
"We are happy to see that the gymnast continues to participate in Gymnastics Ireland events and we look forward to welcoming her back to our future events also."
"Finally, we would like to make it absolutely clear that Gymnastics Ireland condemns any form of racism whatsoever."
The family of the snubbed gymnast, however, thinks more should have been done... and much sooner.
The mother of the girl told The Guardian:
“After this horrendous incident, who wouldn’t think they should apologize? They have just sent me a letter this evening."
"It took well over a year, and after millions of people internationally have been disgusted by the incident."
She continued:
“It is useless to me because they are not addressing the issues of racism and safety."
"I would love to hear them say things like, ‘the next black child who comes into gymnastics will be safe.’ There is nothing like that.”
And people online completely agreed.
Simon Biles chimed in:
"There is no room for racism in any sport or at all!!!!"
@cubbieXbrando @mhdksafa \ud83e\ude77 when this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video \ud83e\ude77 \n\nthere is no room for racism in any sport or at all !!!!— Simone Biles (@Simone Biles) 1695432565
And others followed suit.
@LadyVelvet_HFQ Racism in its ugliest form.— Mohamad Safa (@Mohamad Safa) 1695494131
Gymnastics Ireland: this was an \u201chonest error\u201d! Tired of seeing racist acts being dismissed as unintentional mistakes, just to let racists off the hook. And the worst part is that none of these \u2018well-intentioned\u2019 adults intervened to help this little black girl— Lester Darryl Genevi\u00e8ve (@Lester Darryl Genevi\u00e8ve) 1695464778
IMO, this was absolutely intentional; it is very obvious that this monster carefully neglected to give this young Black girl her medal. \n\nShe should be fired, along with anyone else who could have (but failed to) intervene. \n\n#GymnasticsIreland #GymSTART #RacismInIreland— C.M. Xanthos, PhD (@C.M. Xanthos, PhD) 1695676185
So Ireland Gymnastics said this happened in 2022 and they were going to investigate. What happened to their findings? That little girl's reaction is heartbreaking, to be so young and come face to fave with prejudice and discrimination. \ud83d\udc94— It's Justice Jacks0n! (@It's Justice Jacks0n!) 1695417405
A great visual An adult being a racist towards this child a worthy medal winner is being ostracized for being black. It was an act committed with hate & prejudice. Shame on Ireland, where else will the Irish ignorance show it's face. Irish Gymnastics a classic example.— Labyrinth Walker. (@Labyrinth Walker.) 1695431512
In its official response, Gymnastics Ireland state that their official's refusal to award the black child a medal was 'not acceptable' and a 'mistake'. No Gymnastics Ireland, it was much more than that. It was blatant racism and your organisation stands condemned as a result!!— Amiable Alex (@Amiable Alex) 1695521876
This is just awful! My heart goes out to this girl! Pure racist! Will someone reach this girl and give her her medal she deserves!— Gwendolyn Loyd (@Gwendolyn Loyd) 1695518703
Absolutely disgusting!— Dr. Daniel Masaba (@Dr. Daniel Masaba) 1695457204
Daylight racism in Ireland! Pathetic! The little black girl is racially discriminated in front of her teammates. The daring excuse made up by the gymnastic Ireland is mind boggling @Simone_Biles thanks for standing up for young black angel.— feisal hashi (@feisal hashi) 1695556159
Many also called for action.
Black parents often look on with fear that our children get overlooked. But this heartbreaking scene is so distressing & hard to understand that I've written to #GymnasticsIreland, like many of you, for an explanation. Let's do something for this aspiring & beautiful gymnast.— Jacqueline (Jacqui) Mckenzie (@Jacqueline (Jacqui) Mckenzie) 1695464226
@GymnasticsIre SHAME n DISGRACE \ud83d\ude24\nIs this how you run your organisation? How is this female not fired yet and WHY do we know if this now after a year has gone by. #GymnasticsIreland #ShameOnYou @dfatirl @LeoVaradkar @hrw @UNHumanRights @PresidentIRL— LazyBones (@LazyBones) 1695497181
See yesterday's statement by the Irish Gymnastics.\n\nThe lady was racist because she literally looked at the poor black girl and just walked past her. That is just outrageous and unacceptable!\n\nGymnastics Ireland said it was not intentional, but that is far from true, aside this\u2026— Dr Abdiaziz Afqarshe, PhD (@Dr Abdiaziz Afqarshe, PhD) 1695458810
Gymnastics Ireland this is shameful racism. Everyone involved in this very public humilation of a child should be sacked, and made to apologise. Then you need to sort out your entire organisation. @GymnasticsIre— HerreM\u00f6rker (@HerreM\u00f6rker) 1695473864
We hope this attention and backlash will alter the future of Gymnastics Ireland and their treatment of competitors, as well as the people they hire.
Sadly, this gymnast will never forget that heartbreaking moment.
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