00:00 The mother of a black girl who was not given a medal at an Irish gymnastics event ceremony
00:05 says the apology she has received is useless.
00:08 A video emerged recently showing the alleged racist treatment of a young black gymnast
00:13 being ignored by an official who was handing out medals at an event in Dublin last year.
00:19 The mother said watching the incident unfold at the time was "horrendous".
00:24 Gymnastics Ireland apologised on Monday for the upset that has been caused.
00:28 In the statement, the governing body said it was "deeply sorry" that it knew it
00:33 needed to do more to ensure nothing like this will happen again and it condemned any form
00:38 of racism.
00:39 But the mother of the girl said the sports body only publicly apologised after 18 months
00:44 because the world wanted them to.
00:47 The apology is "almost useless", she said.
00:50 "There was no empathy shown, I feel like it's not true.
00:54 It's been 18 months and it seems like they were pressured to give me an apology.
00:59 I cried for so long and then millions of people cried with me before I could get this."
01:04 The incident occurred at a gym start event in the Irish capital in March 2022, when children
01:10 were awarded participation medals but a young black girl did not receive one on the podium.
01:16 The judge at the event later apologised to the family for her mistake and said that she
01:21 would never ever ever be racist.
01:23 However, the girl's family believe their daughter was the subject of racism.
01:28 They have asked for the family not to be named, fearing it would prompt racist abuse.
01:33 Her mother said watching the incident play out was "unbelievable".
01:36 "I didn't believe in this day and time that this could happen," she said.
01:41 "It is painful to actually state the obvious, my daughter was the only black child in that
01:47 competition, she stood out well, there was no excuse for what happened.
01:51 She felt very upset about what happened.
01:54 It was almost as if though they blamed her for being black.
01:57 It's something very uncomfortable for a 10-year-old to go through."
02:01 She said she emailed the governing body the following day hoping to get an apology for
02:05 her daughter.
02:06 "All I wanted was an empathetic reply from them," the girl's mother said.
02:11 "I wanted a show of support for [my daughter] and really what we wanted was a form of apology
02:16 to show her.
02:17 To say this is from them, to make her feel supported."
02:21 A year after the incident, the family received a short apology letter from the judge at the
02:26 event, addressed to whom it concerns.
02:28 But the BBC has found out the judge had written another email apology shortly after the incident
02:34 and sent it to Gymnastics Ireland to pass on to the family.
02:38 In it she apologised to the family for upsetting you and your lovely child, saying she was
02:43 very nervous, that it was a genuine mistake.
02:46 "When I realised my mistake," she said, "I ran back to get your lovely child a participation
02:52 medal and apologise."
02:54 The family said that email was never forwarded to them.
02:58 They saw it last month when they met with the judge at a mediation session.
03:02 They expected Gymnastics Ireland would be at the session but it did not send a representative.
03:07 The family say it was clear to them after the mediation that the medal refusal was informed
03:12 by racial bias.
03:13 "We approached the judge for comment but did not receive a reply."
03:17 But the family's main issue is with the reaction by the sports governing bodies.
03:22 They tried to cover up like it didn't happen, the girl's father said.
03:26 They probably thought that with time they'll forget about it.
03:29 It was painful.
03:30 "You have to beg for an apology."
03:32 The apology from Gymnastics Ireland, which came last week, after the video had gone viral,
03:39 was so useless, said the girl's mother.
03:41 "I haven't shown her, to be honest, because it's been well over a year," she said.
03:47 She told the BBC she wanted to see a change in policy from Ireland's Department of Sport,
03:53 adding "we wouldn't want to see this happen to any other black child or whatever race."
03:58 Gymnastics Ireland told the BBC it fully accepts that it has taken far too long to make an
04:04 apology to the family and that the child and her parents have been let down.
04:08 It acknowledged its response lacked empathy and said this was the first complaint of racism
04:14 it had received since its foundation and there had been many learnings from it.
04:18 The delays arose for a variety of reasons including human error, threats of legal action,
04:24 intervention by third parties and our own understanding that this was a complaint from
04:28 the parents against the official.
04:31 After the incident the family's case was taken up by the campaign group, Sport Against
04:36 Racism Ireland, which informed the American civil rights activist Professor Harry Edwards.
04:42 He in turn contacted Gymnast World Champion Simone Biles, who sent the family a video
04:48 of support.
04:49 "I wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated at your Gym Start event recently.
04:54 I was completely shocked.
04:56 I want you to know that you deserve a medal just like the other girls," Ms Biles said.
05:01 Receiving that video was a special moment, the girl told the BBC.
05:05 "I was just jumping around all over the place because she's the best gymnast ever and I
05:10 was really happy to hear that she's on my side.
05:14 And it has inspired her to stay in the sport.
05:16 Yeah, I'm still continuing," she said.
05:19 "I'm going to keep striving."
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