Simone Biles recently addressed a heartbreaking video that showed a young Black gymnast in Ireland getting skipped over during a medal ceremony.
Over the weekend, a resurfaced video began garnering attention from many worldwide, especially catching the eye of the four-time Olympic gold medalist.
The video, which was taken in March 2022, showed a lineup of young gymnasts waiting for their medallions. Within the array of Caucasian youngsters stood only one Black girl who appeared to be eager to receive her medal. However, her bright smile quickly turned into a disappointed frown after she was skipped from getting a pendant.
The footage has done numbers on X, where an account user penned, “I would love to see @Simone_Biles reach out to this girl if she’s able.”
Their tweet landed in the sight of Biles, who voiced how hurtful it was to watch the video, and noted how she responded to the “racist” interaction.
“When this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video there is no room for racism in any sport or at all,” the 26-year-old wrote.
Once the reemerged clip made waves online, Gymnastics Ireland decided to release a statement on Friday, Sept. 22.
“We are aware of a video that has been posted on social media relating to an incident that took place over 18 months ago at a GymSTART event in March 2022 for which we received a complaint from the parents of one of our members,” it read.
The statement continued, “Subsequently both parties agreed to enter mediation which was independently facilitated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland as per our policy/procedure which led to a resolution agreed by both parties in August 2023.”
The organization also noted that the official who initially overlooked the child regretted her decision and ended up giving the contestant a medal before she exited the “Field of Play.”
The writing continued, “The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional… The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family.”
Despite her request, it was reported that the family “initially declined” the apology.
“A written apology provided by the identified individuals has since been issued to the competitor and her family,” the statement said.
While Gymnastics Ireland claimed that matters have since been resolved, the girl’s mother recently said otherwise.
Per Irish Independent, the child’s mother said that Gymnastics Ireland not only failed to give them a public apology, she also expressed her belief that racism played a factor in why her daughter was ignored.
“We are often the only Black family at gymnastic events and this has been very hurtful for us,” the mother told the outlet. “Now eight million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia they can see this was wrong but Gymnastics Ireland still can’t accept it and say sorry.”
She also stated that Gymnastics Ireland’s “written apology” from the official was insincere and addressed them as “to whom it concerns.”
The mother also said that she took the incident to the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation in Switzerland.
