In the past few weeks, former and active athletes have made some massive allegations about abuses in gymnastics. Former World Cup bronze medalist Tabea Alt, who trained at the federal base in Stuttgart, wrote on Instagram at the end of December about disregarding medical instructions, “punitive training,” “threats and humiliation.” As a result, many other athletes denounced incidents that took place at different times. The German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) and the Swabian Gymnastics Federation (STB) expressed their concern. They have initiated an investigation “to clarify the current allegations,” as the STB announced. The involvement of the athletes, it is said, will play an important role.
The DTB has already taken a number of measures in consultation with the STB: “Personal consequences have been taken to protect everyone involved; as part of the ongoing intervention process, numerous discussions have been held with athletes, former athletes, legal guardians and trainers. In order to secure the existing training group, head coach Gerben Wiersma and young national coach Claudia Schunk took over the training at the federal base in Stuttgart for a total of seven days,” writes the German Gymnastics Federation upon request. The associations are expected to provide information about details of the investigation and processing process in the coming week.
According to the Swabian Gymnastics Association, the contact person for violence prevention is now permanently available as a confidant at the Artistic Gymnastics Forum in Stuttgart. In addition, “on-site discussions with the involvement of psychologists followed right at the beginning of this year.”
In 2021, Tabea Alt had already made allegations about grievances at the Stuttgart base in a letter to the DTB and also contacted the STB. Both associations confirm this. “There were two further official reports to our contact points in the summer/autumn of 2024,” says the STB: “These, like the letter from Tabea Alt, were or are currently being processed in accordance with the intervention guidelines set out for such cases.”
Planning discussions now take place under the six-eyes principle
After the 2021 letter, the DTB announced that it initiated a cultural and structural change. At the Stuttgart base, the STB took measures in the problem areas of “dealing with injuries”, “communication”, “pedagogical control” and “stress control”. In the course of this, the medical control and authority to give instructions was transferred from the trainers to a higher-level person. Both associations also announce that planning discussions will only take place under the six-eye principle and will be recorded.
“Due to the latest reports and publications from gymnasts, we have to self-critically re-examine the success of the measures that have been introduced so far,” writes the DTB upon request. It also says: “We are very aware that we will be judged on how we process and deal with the current allegations. This is our focus and this is the only way we will be able to maintain and regain trust.”
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