Change ’25, the action plan of British Gymnastics, is a response to the devastating Whyte study and a crucial moment for sports reform in this nation. For the sake of past, current, and future gymnasts, this initiative must succeed. It is important for athletics and society in general.
The lengthy assessment conducted by Anne Whyte KC uncovered the testimonies of hundreds of gymnasts who had previously endured in secret. Amy Tinkler, a dazzling Olympic bronze medalist from Rio, announced publicly that she would return her medal if she could reverse the harassment she had endured. Now is a crucial time to develop fundamentally distinct sporting histories.
British Gymnastics has a challenging task that relies on the cooperation and goodwill of the international gymnastics community. Everyone within the sport contributes to its culture. There is no easy solution for altering behaviors, attitudes, and relationships.
Guaranteeing that the gymnastics experience of tens of thousands of young people – novices and Olympians alike – is positive, demanding, and safe is not an easy task, but it is now recognized as the only objective worth pursuing.
Sarah Powell, the CEO of British Gymnastics, had prepared throughout her first year for this moment. To galvanize the massive collaborative effort required for significant cultural change, effective, empathetic leadership is required.
Powell is aware that she must open up the formerly closed-off governing body, which was out of touch with gymnasts’ real lives, and she must work persuasively to build trust and rapport among gymnasts, coaches, volunteers, parents, and club management.
New forums have been established to facilitate communication between gymnasts, coaches, and clubs. Enhancing coach training and assistance is a primary objective. New executives, performance directors, and a national welfare officer bring new perspectives. I’ve lately been invited to join a board tasked with monitoring the implementation of reforms.
As an independent consultant, it is my responsibility to pose questions, offer alternative viewpoints, and draw from my own experiences in Olympic athletics as well as my present coaching of leadership and cultural change in organizations. This is a unique occasion in which a governing body is fully devoted to reforming its sport, and I feel driven to assist in any manner possible.
After ten hard and, at times, baffling years of experiencing the high-performance sport as an Olympic rower, I was compelled to learn more about creating conditions in which individuals can thrive and explore their full potential. It took time after my retirement as an Olympic athlete and a career outside of sport for me to reset my antenna regarding which principles and behaviors cannot be compromised in the quest for success.
This week’s British Gymnastics action plan is crucial for thousands of gymnasts, instructors, and clubs across the. It applies to all of us who participate in sports, whether as players, coaches, volunteers, parents, club management, or spectators. It is a chance to pause and consider what may and should be altered.
After innumerable culture evaluations in sports ranging from judo to archery, canoeing to parachuting, and cycling to bobsleigh, there is a continual discussion regarding the next sport. Even football and cricket are affected. It is time to stop pushing cultural challenges under the rug and continue business as usual with a few policy tweaks.
The broader context for the urgent need for cultural change in sports is the urgent need for change in society. How can we make our schools, hospitals, police stations, and workplaces more inclusive and safe? How can we as individuals and societies become better at making the well-being of others our top priority? How can we build compassion amidst stress and crisis?
All the major reviews, such as the British Cycling Phelps Review (2017), the review of Australian cricket following the ball-tampering scandal (2018), and the Whyte review (2022), echoed the importance of leadership in shaping value-based environments and developing a greater purpose for sport than the pursuit of medals in the short term.
Promoting a mindset shift, inspiring change where there is resistance, and providing safe channels for potentially unpleasant discourse, where all sides are listening to each other and all experiences matter, requires leadership driven by a strong social purpose and integrity. Leadership should involve addressing what is most important, not what is easiest to quantify.
I have had good, open, and challenging conversations with Powell about focusing more on impact, not just actions; on understanding that to support safe, caring environments in gyms, the national governing body must figure out how it too must change culturally; and that despite the desire to deliver, there are no “right answers” to shaping a new culture – it must be a journey of continuous, collaborative learning.
This could be a pivotal time in sports. In British sports, there should be no place for medals that come with a history of abuse or a “culture of fear.” Rather than refining bike helmets and biomechanics data, we must utilize our great knowledge of marginal gains to develop more effective success strategies that blend performance and well-being.
Let us focus our passion for innovation on enhancing the support for athletes to flourish on and off the field of play and to serve as better role models for others’ mental, physical, and emotional health.
We have had a no-compromise approach to medals for the past 25 years. The leaders of British Gymnastics want to pioneer a no-compromise approach to athlete safety. We must all keep a careful eye on the situation and determine what more we can do to ensure that sport is a force for good and not simply for medals.
Cath Bishop is an Olympic medalist in rowing, a former diplomat, the author of The Long Win, a consultant for the True Athlete Project, and the chair of Love Rowing, the charitable arm of British Rowing.
