Gymnastics Ireland has been accused of suppressing a personal apology letter to a young gymnast and failing to address systemic racism in the sport, The Guardian reported citing the gymnast's family.

In a video from March 2022, a judge can be seen handing out participation medals to a line of young gymnasts while ignoring the only Black girl, as officials and the audience watched without intervening.

Gymnastics Ireland officials reportedly refused to participate in mediation, treating the incident as a personal dispute between the family and one woman.

The national governing body of the sport did not publicly commit to investigating the incident, implementing anti-racism policies, or enhancing the protection of athletes of color. They also failed to issue an apology to the family for a period of 18 months.

"It's unbelievable that you treat a little girl this way," her mother said as quoted by The Guardian. "It’s a systemic problem because when you [GI] don’t speak out, the message is that you are happy for it to go on."

Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don’t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous… pic.twitter.com/YYMIP1IALZ

— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) September 22, 2023

To safeguard the minor girl's privacy and due to concerns about potential racist abuse targeting the family, her mother's name is not disclosed, as per The Guardian.

The official involved in the incident, who denied any racist behavior, expressed a desire to apologize to the family for the omission. Eventually, the girl did receive a medal.

Amid increasing global outrage, Gymnastics Ireland (GI) released a statement stating that they had "expressed concern" to the family and had "delivered" a written apology from the judge. Unfortunately, this was frequently misunderstood as an official apology from Gymnastics Ireland. The gymnast's mother expressed confusion regarding why the media continued to report it as such.

Gymnastics Ireland (GI) explained on Sunday that they initially regarded the incident as a "complaint between members," claiming that only recently did they realize that the family sought a public apology from GI. The board stated that they dispatched an apology letter to the family on Sunday, with plans to release it publicly on Monday.
 
In response, the girl's mother expressed that the letter arrived too late and did not address the core concerns. She questioned, "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."

"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," her mother added.

While engaging in the mediation process, the mother of the young gymnast uncovered that the judge had promptly written a substantial personal apology just days after the competition. This apology was conveyed to the Gymnastics Ireland (GI) official who was in contact with the family, which never received the apology.

The mother further expressed that the organization's priority seems to be safeguarding its reputation, particularly in the wake of the video being viewed by millions of people globally.

Her concern is that they are not adequately addressing the needs of young athletes, such as her daughter. Furthermore, she emphasized that the family was not consulted prior to the issuance of the statement. 

"We were not consulted before the statement went out. I’m even more scared … They are simply trying to vindicate themselves," she stressed as cited by The Guardian.

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