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Sports Commission apologises to athletes

3 minute read

Following a damning report into Australian gymnastics, the Australian Sports Commission has apologised to athletes who had negative experiences at the AIS.

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has apologised to athletes treated inappropriately at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in the wake of a damning report into gymnastics.

An independent review into Australian gymnastics, released on Monday by the Australian Human Rights Commission, found the sport's culture enabled physical, sexual and emotional abuse - predominantly against girls and young women.

Multiple athletes detailed their negative experiences at the AIS in the report, including the organisation's heavy focus on the ideal body - with one interviewee saying "as far as the AIS was concerned, the smaller and more petite you were, the better gymnast you made".

One participant revealed being called fat at the AIS when they were "11 years old and weighed 22 kilograms", while another felt there was no-one to report issues to there as "every adult was on the coaches' side."

"The Australian Sports Commission Board offers our apology and ongoing support to former Australian Institute of Sport athletes treated inappropriately in the past," the ASC said on Friday.

"We know incidents and practices occurred that are not acceptable. For this, we are truly sorry.

"We admire the courage of people who have come forward to share their stories.

"We assure you, we are listening and you have been heard. We have begun reaching out personally to athletes to offer our support."

The ASC has also set up an independent and confidential support service called "AIS Be Heard".

The service is available to any former AIS athletes or staff members to share their experiences and receive support and links with the organisation's existing support services.

"Today, we acknowledge our past so we can continue to lead Australian sport into the future," the ASC said.

"The ASC is committed to working with our partners in the Australian sporting community to address unacceptable practices of the past, and to ensure they have no place in Australian sport in the future.

"We will continue to develop and deliver programs and resources to support the health and wellbeing of athletes, coaches and support staff across the high performance sport sector."

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