[Nicky91]

A second Dutch coach has been implicated in a widening scandal about the physical abuse of young gymnasts, following revelations made by local paper Noord Hollands Dagblad last week.

Former gymnast Joy Goedkoop has now come forward to say she was physically abused by her coach Vincent Wevers from the age of seven to 12 during training sessions. ‘It did not happen every day,’ Goedkoop told television programme Studio Sport. ‘But being made to feel small, anger and being ignored were daily occurrences,’ she said.

Last week the NHD published a major report on physical and mental abuse in the world of gymnastics, based on conversations with 10 athletes aged between 18 and 41, several of whom took part in international competitions.

They spoke about being dragged across the floor, screamed at and forced to climb ropes with bleeding hands in order to win medals.

The paper also published an interview with coach Gerrit Beltman who admitted he had physically abused and belittled young gymnasts during his career and that he was not the only one to behave in this way.

Sorry

‘My behavior cannot be justified in any way,’ Beltman told the paper. ‘I wanted to win, whatever it cost… and I am now deeply sorry. It was never my intention to deliberately hit, swear or belittle. But it did happen. I thought it the only way to develop a top sport mentality. I blame myself for getting it wrong.’

Beltman also said that the Dutch gymnastics association KNGU was aware of what was going on but had failed to take action.

The KNGU said in a statement on Sunday that it had been urging athletes to report abuse for some time. ‘We can only get to the bottom of what has happened through concrete reports,’ the KNGU said. ‘Every report will be followed up and investigated in depth, and that includes the claims made by Joy Goedkoop.’

Both Wevers and the Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF are preparing reactions, broadcaster NOS reported.

AwardsWevers is currently the trainer of gymnast twins Sanne and Lieke Wevers. Sanne Wevers won Olympic gold on the beam in 2016, the year in which her father was named sports coach of the year.

Meanwhile, two other former gymnasts, Stasja Köhler and Simone Heitinga, who published a book about their experiences in 2013, have told the NRC that Beltman’s admission is too little and too late.

Beltman has also worked in Belgium, Canada and Singapore.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/0...-mental-abuse/

[Livia]

There's been a lot of shameful incidents all over the world connected to gymnastics. I mean, didn't we all know that the girls are abused, starved... it's about time something was done.

[Nicky91]

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/0...ture-was-hard/

dutch gymnastics coach Vincent Wevers denies hitting girls

[Nicky91]

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/1...stics-coaches/

25 gymnastics coaches under investigation

Some 25 gymnastics coaches are under investigation at the moment following claims that they mentally and physically abused their young charges, sports legal body ISR has confirmed to NOS.

‘It’s a shocking number, particularly within the one sport,’ ISR chairman Dick van Steenbeek told the broadcaster.

Some 75 people have now reported coaches to the ISR in the last months following the admission by trainer Gerrit Beltman that he had in the past humiliated and physically abused young gymnasts.

The names mentioned include that of Vincent Wevers, father of Olympic champion Sanne Wevers. Beltman is still working as a trainer in Germany while Wevers is still involved with the top Dutch gymnasts.

The sports minister has now promised structural financial aid for the ISR which has said that this will increase capacity to handle cases more quickly and improve standards at the organisation.

[Nicky91]

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/0...astics-report/

A long-awaited report commissioned by Dutch gymnastics federation KNGU into the scale and nature of abuse in gymnastics has shown that former top athletes in particular have been the victim of ‘transgressive behaviour’, meriting apologies, after care and compensation.

Two thirds of the former athletes participating in the survey, carried out by professor of sports law Marjan Olfers and criminologist Anton van Wijk following last year’s allegations of abuse, said they had been subjected to behaviour which broke moral and social boundaries.

The problems ranged from ‘constant threats of humiliation, insults, negative criticism, being made a fool of, intimidation, isolation and threats’ to forcing gymnasts to practice with injuries and inciting them to lose too much weight.

Some 85% of the former top athletes reported abuse compared with 35% of amateur gymnasts. However, the results are illustrative rather than representative, the researchers said because the number of respondents was small.

Only 21% of adult gymnasts and 17% of juniors filled out the survey, prompting the report’s conclusion that this is the tip of the iceberg. ‘We don’t know what goes on in the greater part of gymnastics in the Netherlands,’ Olfers and Van Wijk said.

The victims of the abuse, which included sexual abuse and two claims of rape, must be offered apologies, after care and damages, the researchers said.

Culture

Some of the harsh behaviour by coaches can to some extent be explained by the tough training culture taken over from East European countries, the researchers said. ‘The individual well-being of the gymnasts was not taken into account and this sort of behaviour became normalised.’

They recommend that the subject should be openly discussed between clubs, coaches, young gymnasts and their parents, putting the welfare of the gymnasts centre stage, and not their performance, the researchers said.

Other recommendations to change the culture of the gym hall include having another person present to alert coaches if they go too far, and another look at the often very young age at which gymnasts start their sports career.

Although the KNGU had investigated claims of abuse in the past, it failed to take action, the report said, in part because intimidation and violence have only been included in the disciplinary regulations in 2020 and because coaches are not under contract with the KNGU. This must change, the researchers said, and clubs too must be KNGU approved.

KNGU chairwoman Monique Kempf said in a reaction that although painful, the KNGU is happy the ‘whole story is on the table in full openness’. She said the former gymnasts will be invited to discuss their specific needs and that lessons will be drawn from the findings.