Simone Biles Reveals Heartbreak Over Heart-wrenching Ignorance in Gymnastics Ceremony
Simone Biles expresses deep sadness witnessing a Black girl being overlooked for a medal at an Irish gymnastics ceremony, leaving her heartbroken The viral footage has sparked outrage
Four-time Olympic gold medalist, Simone Biles, expressed sorrow upon witnessing a young Black girl being overlooked for a medal at a gymnastics ceremony in Ireland. The footage of this incident has gained widespread attention on social media. In the video, which was captured during a GymStart event in March 2022, a lineup of girls is awarded medals, but the only Black girl in the group is not presented with one.
Biles, speaking on X (formerly Twitter), mentioned that when the video started gaining traction, the girl's parents contacted her. Witnessing the situation pained her deeply, prompting her to send a small video to the girl. Biles emphasized that racism has no place in sports or anywhere else.
In a statement issued on Friday, Gymnastics Ireland acknowledged receiving a complaint regarding alleged racist conduct from a parent following the event. It was reported that a resolution to the matter had been reached in August this year.
"The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional," said the statement.
San Jose, California - August 27: Simone Biles triumphantly celebrates her first-place victory in the floor exercise competition during the fourth day of the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center. The glorious moment was captured by photographer Ezra Shaw.
Simone Biles expressed her desire to participate in the Paris Olympics next year, stating that it is the path she would love to take.
Upon recognizing the mistake, the official promptly rectified it and made sure that the athlete received her medal before leaving the Field of Play.
The statement stated that the official had expressed profound remorse for what they referred to as an unintentional mistake, and initially, the request to personally apologize to the competitor and her family was rejected. However, a written apology from the identified individual has now been issued to the competitor and her family.
The mother, speaking to The Irish Independent last week on condition of anonymity, expressed her dissatisfaction with the unresolved complaint and deemed the apology as insincere. According to her statement in the article, being the only Black family present at gymnastics events has caused significant emotional pain. She further highlighted that the video has garnered attention from eight million viewers worldwide, including countries like Pakistan and Ethiopia, who all recognize the wrongdoing. Despite this, she pointed out Gymnastics Ireland's inability to admit their mistake and offer a genuine apology.
As of now, the footage of the incident has surpassed 40 million views on X platform.
Gymnastics Ireland issued a statement to CNN on Monday expressing their sincere apologies to the gymnast and her family for the distress caused by the incident that took place during the GymStart event in March 2022.
We deeply apologize for the incident that occurred on that day. We are also sincerely sorry for the additional distress caused by the events that followed. Additionally, we acknowledge that the statement did not address the comments made by the mother to the Irish Independent. It is important to note that the gymnast is still actively participating in Gymnastics Ireland events, and we eagerly anticipate her participation in our future events as well.
