“I was 21 kilos, they told me I was too fat”: Liberazione investigates the abuse suffered by gymnasts

” Some get weighed every day by coaches, come out crying “. On Monday, August 14, a dozen rhythmic gymnastics athletes testified in an inquiry published on Publication violence to which they are subjected during training.

Thus, the French Ksenia Moustafaevawho finished 10th at the Rio Olympics in 2016, testifies to the pressures, particularly on her weight, to which she has been subjected throughout her career: “From the age of 14, I felt that a whole system was around me to make me understand he had to be thin to performthat one had no right to train like a woman, nor to have pain. »

Eating disorders encouraged

In this survey, the former high-level sportswoman, like other athletes, describes a certain recurrence in the violence they suffer: they are driven to stay thin, even very thin. “I didn’t feel protected by the Federation [Française de Gymnastique] “, reports Kseniya Mustafaeva a Publication.

And it is no coincidence that all the athletes interviewed describe strict rules to the detriment of their physical health. As Janene Carillian16-year-old, who describes a form of psychological abuse by her coaches, which pushes her to have as low a weight as possible since her first year of intensive practice, when she was only 11: ” I was 21 kilos, they told me I was too big compared to another little guy who was 18. My trainer was pinching my thigh, slapping my buttocks, telling me ‘it is too big.’ »She stops eating and eats at “apple and one yoghurt a day at the most “. He then suffers several broken bones tired, undernourished and under pressure.

Behavior guided by the systematic weighing of students, even if this is prohibited to coaches since 2018. However, the survey reveals that some gymnasts are weighed daily. And in a climate that is anything but benevolent. Alix* says: “ The hardest thing wasn’t the screams. I was weighed before and after training to show me I was getting fat from the water I drank “, he reports.

Few reports to the listening unit

Weight is not the only indicator that corresponds to the standards imposed by rhythmic gymnastics. Janene Carilien, Métis, recalls experiencing racist comments from her coaches, such as her berating her for being the darkest of her group. ” In the summer I locked myself inside so as not to get a tan “, he confides to Set free.

If a psychological unit was created within the French Gymnastics Federation in 2020, there have been few reports. But” at the highest levels, athletes still in their careers find it difficult to express themselves for fear of reprisal and often report abuse long after “, he declares in the survey Fabienne Bourdais, interministerial delegate for the fight against violence in sport. As proof: the athletes who spoke with their faces uncovered in the survey did it everything has already left the center.

*Name has been changed.

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