WAIS apologises to former gymnasts for past 'distress or injury'

The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) has issued an apology to former athletes who experienced distress or injury in their gymnastics program.

It comes in the wake of an unreserved apology from Gymnastics Australia following an Australian Human Rights Commission report (AHRC), which detailed a "toxic" culture for many participants in the sport across the country.

A number of former gymnasts within the WAIS program - which ran from 1988 to 2016 - made a joint submission to the review, stating they were subject to physical and emotional abuse.

In a statement, WAIS Board Chair Neil McLean said the AHRC report "disturbed and saddened" the Institute, advising “on behalf of the WAIS board and management we offer our sincere apologies to any person who has experienced distress or injury associated with their participation in the WAIS gymnastics program.”

However, Dr Ann-Maree Vallence, is one of a number of former WAIS gymnasts who has come forward to speak out about their experience in the program, said the apology was an important first step, but said it was "incredibly weak".

As reported by the ABC, Dr Vallence stated “this apology is not meaningful to me.

"I know what I went through, I know what the other members of our group went through.

"We were belittled, we were body-shamed, we were physically assaulted, we were forced to train on broken bones without medical care."

Dr Vallence said since she and other former gymnasts had first connected with WAIS in October, their group had grown with more women sharing their experiences.

She added “we now have a group of more than 50 former gymnasts who finally have a place of support.”

WAIS has asked Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) to undertake an independent review of the issues raised specifically relating to athletes involved in the gymnastics program.

Announcing this, McLean noted “we have been working with SIA and the former gymnasts to establish agreement on the scope and process of the review.

"It's taken too long, but hopefully we're pretty much there."

Nonetheless, the ABC reported that Dr Vallence and the Gymnast Alliance are worried the review's terms of reference will not be adequate and lead to enough change within WAIS.