Note to reader: The Whyte Review is an independent investigation commissioned by Sport England and UK Sport following allegations of mistreatment within the sport of gymnastics.

The Whyte Review, published on June 16th, 2022, makes for truly heartbreaking reading. Regrettably though, neither the culture of fear where athletes felt they couldn’t speak out, nor the coach-led culture of athlete physical and psychological abuse in the pursuit of performance, are surprising. 

Kyniska was born out of a frustration with the sporting cultures in the UK which do not prioritise athlete welfare and safety. We will continue to advocate for the voices of athletes and sportspeople to be heard and respected. We stand with all of the athletes who have bravely come forward, in any way, to contribute to this investigation. The Whyte Review is an example of the power of a collective athlete voice.

We now call on all decision makers to read, in full, the Review, to respect the athletes involved, to recognise the justice deserved, and to act on the recommendations within the report. 

National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of sport should not be looking at this as a ‘gymnastics issue’- this is endemic and transcends gymnastics, reaching every corner of the UK sports sector and beyond. Every NGB should be reviewing their own safeguarding and welfare procedures in light of this review. 

Five years ago, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson’s Duty of Care Report was published. Since then there has been little change. There is no excuse for this. We’ve done enough talking, now is the time for effective policy change. For so many, the irreversible damage is done. We urge all sports to learn from this.  

We welcome the recommendations proposed by Anne Whyte QC. We hope that the changes made by British Gymnastics truly are athlete-led, with athlete voice integrated in all decision making. 

In April this year, we released our ‘Stamping Out Sexual Violence’ report listing recommendations designed to prioritse, and add resilience to, welfare and safeguarding in sport, and ultimately to protect future athletes. 

• The recommendations in the Stamping Out Sexual Abuse in Sport report: 
  An independent body for duty of care and safeguarding in sport.

• Mandatory reporting of sexual abuse and misconduct.

• Ringfenced Sports Council funding for safeguarding and athlete welfare.

• A national coaches licensing scheme and register.

• Lifetime bans for coaches found guilty of physical, sexual and emotional/psychological abuse.

Many of our recommendations also appear in the Whyte Review and in the Duty of Care report. Changemakers and advocates are consistently echoing eachother’s calls. It’s time for those in power to act on these calls.

The time for action is now. Change has to happen.