Canadian Gymnasts Call for Investigation Into Sport’s ‘Toxic Culture’

It was a long time ago, but gymnast Rosie Cossar still remembers a special Canadian team practice planned for five hours but went well past that.

She said her teammates collapsed from fatigue, but the coach kept pressing play on their music, and saying: “Again.”

Cossar was the captain of the team, she was at 18, the only athlete at the age of majority.

The team was in Russia and had a flight in the afternoon to attend a World Cup in Ukraine, so she told the coach they are really tired and it's already time to go back to the flight.

“Her reaction was, `What makes you think you can change my plan? You think you’re the coach now, OK, you’re the coach now,’ and then she stormed out of the gym. And then we were meant to make our own way to the airport. Like she just disappeared completely,” said Cossar, who’s now 30 and retired.

Despite a decade ago, Cossar said the coach is still with Gymnastics Canada, a proof showing the sport is rife with hundreds of similar complaints about coaches abusing minors sexually and bodily.

On Monday, March 28, 2022, more than 70 gymnasts wrote a letter to Sport Canada calling for an independent investigation into what they say is "a toxic culture full of abusive practices.”

 

Sexually Abused

More than 70 current and former Canadian gymnasts have called for an independent investigation into abusive practices within their sport in Canada, The Guardian read.

Canadian gymnasts have already decided to no longer keep these abuses out of light.

In a letter, gymnasts who are and have been members of the Olympic and national teams, said that for nearly a decade, they were afraid of talking about their experiences of abuse, but they finally decided to speak out.

“We can no longer sit in silence,” the letter said.

“We are coming forward with our experiences of abuse, neglect, and discrimination in hopes of forcing change, we ask Sport Canada to take action to ensure the next generation of Canadian gymnasts is not subject to the physical and psychological trauma that we have had to endure.”

According to the letter which was sent to Sport Canada’s director general Vicki Walker, and also copied to Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge, multiple complaints and arrests for various forms of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were mentioned and directed to Canadian coaches.

“We know that there are many more examples of harm that have not yet come to light, and we know that abusive behaviors continue in gyms across this country today,” the letter said.

“The current Board and CEO of GymCan have failed to address these issues and have failed to earn the trust and confidence of athletes. Their inability to adequately respond to ongoing systemic abuse, mistreatment, and discrimination is troubling,” according to the same letter.

 

Toxic Culture

The group described the incidents within their sport as “a toxic culture and abusive practices.”

Cossar told The Canadian Press saying: “I really want to emphasize that gymnastics is a sport for children.”

“We all start when we’re very young. I started when I was five. You spend more time with your coaches than you do with your parents. You travel the world with your coaches, sometimes you live with them, it’s a very intimate setting,” she added.

The former Gymnast continued to say that growing up in that kind of toxic environment will surely affect the gymnasts’ future life, because for her, during developmental stages, minors do not have any sense of identity or confidence and they do not even know what’s right and wrong. “ You’re extremely vulnerable,” she said.

Dave Brubaker, former Canadian women’s coach, was banned for life by Gymnastics Canada in 2021 after an internal investigation.

Brubaker was condemned of sexually assaulting a young gymnast years ago but found not guilty, Global News reported.

Brubaker denied all the allegations and did not change his suspension.

“We know that there are many more examples of harm that have not yet come to light, and we know that abusive behaviors continue in gyms across this country today,” as the gymnasts wrote in the letter.

“The current Board and CEO of GymCan have failed to address these issues and have failed to earn the trust and confidence of athletes.”

There have been many other coaches like Brubaker, including Marcel Rene who was suspended for a lifetime from Gymnastics Ontario in 2021, in addition to Rima Nikishin who is now suspended by the Alberta Gymnastics Federation until the investigation of complaints is completed.

The main reasons behind these two suspensions have been never explained by both gymnastic associations.

 

Support

In response to the letter, Gymnastics Canada said on Tuesday it's really sad to know that dozens of athletes feel the National Governing Body failed to address concerns of abuse letting them down.

Gymnastics Canada’s members said they support the Canadian gymnasts’ calls for an investigation to supervise the complaints.

Gymnastics Canada’s board of directors said they are committed to advocate for real system reforms helping to ensure respect and safety for all participants when training and competing in sport.

The governing body also said that there must be a strong system to address unsafe practices in sport, with the need of more work to create an environment where participants can thrive.

In a statement, the board said: “We are aligned with the signatories to the letter that we be part of the solution to bring about positive culture change, in Canada, and globally,” the board said in a statement.

“To that end, we will continue to work with our national sport counterparts, our international body and other countries towards systemic and attitudinal change in the sport globally and in Canada.”