Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

I’ve questioned myself time and again about gymnastics, ever since the ‘Me Too’ messages began appearing on my Twitter feed.   Are we, fans, culpable of supporting a sport which is inherently brutal?   Have we elevated our sport because of the brutality involved in making it to the top?   What is it about gymnastics that has somehow led to the tacit acceptance of abuse as a way of life? Only a few years ago Dominique Moceanu published her book, calling out her parents and her coaches, the Karolyis, as abusive.   Did we stop and listen?   No.   We labelled Dominique an ‘attention seeker’.   And what about ‘Little Girls in Pretty Boxes’?   Did we rush to support the injured parties?   Insist on a sports-wide review of coaching practice?   No.   There was a media storm and lots of huffs and puffs, but we never got round to blowing the house down.   At the end of the day, weren’t we mesmerised by the promise of gold? Ab...

I am on my way home after attending the annual World Congress of the International Society of Sport, which this year was held over three days in Switzerland.  More than 300 participants gathered at the University of Lausanne, on the edge of Lake Geneva, to discuss issues relating to the place of sport in society.  Themes covered included sports policy, anti-doping, social exclusion and participation, ethics, disability, gender issues, sports development, globalisation, Olympism and mega-events and health. I attended the second gathering of the group ISCWAG (International Socio-Cultural Research into women's artistic gymnastics), which is a relatively newly assembled group of academics from all over the world.  You can find profiles of the founder members here .  This year the papers focussed on such subjects as the coach-gymnast relationship and grooming; gender-based violence and gymnastics coaching, and the pattern of older gymnasts continuing to compete in the...