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The Story

Winning at all costs: The toxic culture of British gymnastics

The Story

The Times

Daily News Podcast, Exclusive Interviews, Daily News, Current Affairs, Global News, News, Investigative Reporting, Long-form Audio, In-depth Journalism, Audio Storytelling, News Analysis, Politics, Uk News

3.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From starving athletes hiding cereal bars in socks to fat-shaming and gaslighting – the findings of the watershed Whyte Review make for grim reading. Why is this scandal so unique to sport – and what next for British gymnastics?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.

Guest: Rebecca Myers, assistant news editor, The Sunday Times.

Host: Luke Jones.

Clips: BBC News, Beanyman News, Fox News, Gymnasts Inspire, Gym Angels, ITV News, Rotten Tomatoes TV, Sky News.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Imagine you, you in a nice comfy seat with your hands behind your head,

0:07.6

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0:13.6

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0:24.4

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1:08.1

Gymnastics is about perfection. The last gymnastics to go in the women's floor

1:13.1

final at the European Championships. Great Britain, 16 years old, bronze in the all-round silver

1:18.5

on vault. Now this is also a very big tumble. Powers back, double straight, perfect landing.

1:30.3

I can't vault, I can't back tuck or even round off. But in Britain, there are gymnastics who

1:35.6

have been doing this since they were four years old. Great Britain's female gymnastics team

1:40.0

overturned almost a century of history when they won a bronze in the team event a little

1:44.5

earlier today. It's first time in fact since 1928 that they have managed a medal in the event.

1:51.2

I just can't believe it really. It's a dream we never thought was possible and I'm so

1:55.3

proud of all these girls.

2:03.2

It is competitive and at the top level it takes rigorous training.

2:07.2

But this month some of the cruelty behind that pursuit of perfection became even clearer.

...

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