Category: ethics

IOC on Russia & Belarus

Christine Still & Brett Ince

Alice Kinsella GBR, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion in Team and on Floor, took the time to thank her coaches online.

Much appreciated.

Abortion in Kentucky is illegal from fertilization

Abortion in Kentucky is illegal from fertilization. …

Wikipedia

Legal under U.S. law — but with many dangerous unintended consequences for girls and women.

I’m surprised USA Gymnastics would choose to host events in States with such controversial interpretations of the recent Supreme Court ruling. I see this as a red flag. USAG doesn’t care.

18-year-old FIG male athletes

Federations … “must declare through the gymnast’s FIG profile whether their 18 year old gymnasts will compete as junior or senior prior to their first competition for the year concerned.”, new parameters have been set in the FIG Database to allow NFs to proceed with this declaration.

Starting from 01 January 2023, each 18 year old gymnast’s profile will need to be set by choosing a “Preferred age category” (either Junior or Senior) on the FIG Database.

Details.

Nile Wilson’s TED Talk

Nile informative and entertaining, as always.

He’s going to be on ITV’s Dancing on Ice next season. That should be entertaining, as well. 😀

Olympic gymnast and medalist Nile Wilson draws on his own personal challenges with mental health as a trailblazer in sports to shed some light on the challenges many professional athletes face on their journey to becoming champions.

.. Yet, Nile is so much more than just a gymnast – a YouTuber with over 1.5 million subscribers and 350 million total views; a social media influencer; a highly successful entrepreneur; an advocate for mental health awareness; and a powerful voice within his sport over the historic treatment of gymnasts. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

new Gymnastics Canada complaints program

I just sent in my consent form to participate in Gymnastics Canada’s new system for lodging complaints.

The goal is to make the process more independent. Hopefully better — though there are always unintended consequences of any change.

As of December 19, 2022, Gymnastics Canada is a Program Signatory of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC).

This means that, from the date, any allegation of maltreatment or other prohibited behavior, as defined in the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), against a UCCMS participant of Gymnastics Canada must be filed directly with the OSIC. …

To validate whether a complaint may be admissible to this service, or for assistance in filing a complaint, anyone can contact the Canadian Sport Helpline at 1 888 837-7678 or by email at info(a)abuse-free-sport.ca

Canadians should check their email to see if they have been asked to fill out this form as the deadline is December 19, 2022.

Anyone choosing not to sign on might have to terminate their affiliation with Gymnastics Canada.

reporting abuse while protecting privacy

One of the MANY problems parents have with reporting suspected abuse is protecting the privacy of their children.

It’s more common than not that they decide to stay quiet, rather than risk later consequences for their child.

ProPublica is one of the best news organizations in the world.

Abigail Kramer from that site reflects on her experience:

The Balancing Act of Reporting on Vulnerable Kids While Protecting Their Privacy

Broken: Inside the Toxic Culture of Canadian Gymnastics

Returning to Canada from Europe, I was finally able to watch the full documentary on Crave TV, a Canadian subscription service.

And it was even more damning that I expected from seeing the trailer.

The documentary is well produced. Shared the experience of a number of gymnast victims from a number of different clubs. We should consider this a small sample, not any kind of comprehensive review of all Canadian clubs.

My first takeaway is to admire the courage of the gymnasts, their parents and one coach willing to tell their stories to try to improve things for kids in the future.

Next, was to get more insight into just how difficult it was for families to lodge a complaint about a coach with Club, Provincial Federation and Gymnastics Canada.

Certainly document anything you see right from the beginning. Email or letter. Months or years later you may need to present specific incidents, times and dates.

If a coach or anyone else breaks the law, call the police. Simple.

The dilemma for a family is when misbehaviour at Gymnastics falls short of a crime: bullying, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, etc.

None of the coaches called out in this documentary were willing to be interviewed. Included were:

  • Vladimir and Svetlana Lashin, Omega Gymnastics, B.C. — neither are currently on the GymCan Suspended/Expelled Members list. But neither are coaching in Canada, I believe. And Omega shut down during the pandemic.
  • Dave Brubaker, Bluewater Gymnastics, Ontario. Former WAG National Coach. Expelled from GymCan membership. His wife, coach Liz Brubaker, is currently suspended.
  • Jamie Atkin, Airdrie Edge Gymnastics, Alberta. Jamie was under some sanctions from the Provincial Federation at one point, but is currently coaching and managing the club.
  • Rima Nikishin, Calgary Gymnastics Centre, Alberta. Indefinite suspension.

Have things changed for the better in Canada? Or is the system still protecting abusers?

The McLaren Global Sport Solutions Report should arrive January 2023 — a review of Ethics, Safety & Culture. 

Critics are suspicious that McLaren might not be critical nor strong enough as it was commissioned by Gymnastics Canada. Having been interviewed myself, I’m optimistic that it will deliver a good list of recommendations.

We were hoping that Sports Canada would additionally launch a multi-sport investigation into Ethics and Safety. It seemed the Prime Minister and Minister of Sport were onboard for that — but it hasn’t happened yet.

I do recommend you watch the 90 minute documentary for yourself. If you can find a way to do so.

Russian athletes ~ Paris Olympics

Personally, I can’t see any way to fairly allow some athletes who represent Russia to compete in Paris 2024, while disallowing others.

For example, Nikita Nagornyy could SAY he does not support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Compete Paris. Then return to Russia to continue his work for Putin, laughing at IOC president Thomas Bach.

That would be worst case scenario. The IOC would be humiliated.

The IOC should give Putin a deadline to withdraw from Ukraine, or have his nation and Belarus officially banned.

Russian athletes who do not endorse their country’s war in Ukraine could be accepted back into international sports, competing under a neutral flag, IOC president Thomas Bach said in an interview published Friday. …

IOC looks for ways Russian athletes ‘who do not support war’ could compete as neutrals

Jim Holt on FIG Worlds format

American coach Jim Holt has coached 14 World Championships, with 7 different nations (BAR, BOL, ECU, IND, IRI, NAM, YEM).

He knows as well as anyone the benefits of having developing nations compete at the highest level.

In this post, Jim responds to Hardy Fink’s recent article on the unintended negative consequences of FIG increasingly making it more difficult for new nations to compete at Worlds.

Jim agrees with Hardy and adds specific examples from the past.

jim-holt-responds-to-hardy-fink-on-worldsDownload