British Gymnastics and safeguarding, Long-distance friendships, Myha’la, Hunters, Hockey kits
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 November 2023
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last year's landmark Whyte Review into gymnastics detailed 'systemic issues' of physical and emotional abuse between 2008 and 2020. Today, British Gymnastics has for the first time introduced safeguarding policies relating to weighing, hydration and academic education, which they say are designed to better protect the welfare of gymnasts, but do they go far enough? Clare speaks to David Hart, performance director for British Gymnastics, Karen Whelan, gymnastics coach and mother of two-time British Olympian Hannah Whelan, and Eloise Jotischky, former elite gymnast and trustee and the youth voice on the Gymnasts for Change board and the first (and currently only) person to win a civil case against British Gymnastics for the abuse she experienced in the sport.
The actor Myha'la joins Clare to discuss her latest project starring alongside Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali in the film Leave the World Behind. It's an apocalyptic thriller which sees Julia Roberts's character Amanda rent a luxury house in the countryside with her family. They're disturbed by Ruth, played by Myha'la, and her father who claim they own the house and need a place to stay following a mysterious cyber attack.
Team GB hockey player Tess Howard campaigned for women to be able to choose whether they play in shorts or the traditional skort for their matches, resulting in official changes to the sport’s kit regulations. She’s been awarded Changemaker of the Year at the Sunday Times Sportswomen awards for her work.
How do you keep long-distance friendships going? Clare talks to film maker Shannon Haly, who lives in New York and wrote a viral poem about missing her best friend. They are joined by the journalist Rose Stokes who, after having an 18-year long-distance friendship decided to move to live in the same city as her friend.
It's long been claimed that in prehistoric times, women were gatherers while men were hunters. However, new research debunks this narrative and suggests that women were actually superior to men when it comes to hunting. Clare spoke to Dr Annamieke Milks, a palaeolithic archaeologist from the University of Reading who is an expert in hunting and weapons.
Presenter Clare McDonnell Producer: Dianne McGregor
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Doleepa, and I'm at your service. |
| 0:04.7 | Join me as I serve up personal conversations with my sensational guests. |
| 0:08.8 | Do a leap interviews, Tim Cook. |
| 0:11.2 | Technology doesn't want to be good or bad. |
| 0:15.0 | It's in the hands of the creator. |
| 0:16.7 | It's not every day that I have the CEO of the world's biggest company in my living room. |
| 0:20.7 | If you're looking at your phone more than you're looking in someone's eyes, |
| 0:24.6 | you're doing the wrong thing. |
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| 0:35.8 | Hello, this is Claire McDonnell and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast. |
| 0:40.4 | Hello and welcome to Womensower. |
| 0:43.0 | New rules, as we've just been hearing, |
| 0:45.0 | that gymnastic clubs will have to follow come in today. |
| 0:48.0 | It follows a landmark review |
| 0:50.0 | highlighting systemic issues of physical and emotional abuse. |
| 0:54.6 | So from now on children under 12 won't be allowed to train during school hours, |
| 0:59.2 | coaches a ban from weighing gymnas, and drinks breaks will be mandated. |
| 1:04.0 | Question is, when we are talking about children, why haven't these measures been brought in |
| 1:08.4 | before now? |
| 1:09.4 | We'll also discuss long-distance female friendships and hear from a woman who missed her best |
| 1:14.7 | friend so much she moved her entire family to the town where she lives. |
| 1:18.9 | Her reasoning, well you move for jobs, for family, why not friends. |
... |
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