Former gymnasts who allege they were sexually abused by their York coach as children have vowed to continue their fight for justice.
Nikki O’Donnell first complained about the actions of York-based Stan Wild in 2008, and despite two further women coming forward with similar allegations during the intervening years, no criminal prosecution has ever been launched.
Their stories are outlined in an ITV investigation, Gymnastics: A Culture of Abuse?, which is due to be aired at 9pm tonight (Thursday).
Nikki was 14 when she reported Wild – who denies all the claims but was suspended and has since been expelled by British Gymnastics – to police in 2008.
In a warning to the governing body, she said in the programme: “We are not backing down. And we are not giving up like they hope we will.
“We are certainly not moving on until they sort out all the problems that they have created. They can’t hide forever.”
Nikki, who revealed she was dependent on alcohol by the age of 16 as a result of what she went through, and an anonymous former gymnast referred to in the documentary as ‘Kirsty’, speak about their experiences at the gymnastics club founded by Wild, who represented Great Britain at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games and carried the Olympic torch through York in 2012.
A third woman named only as ‘Jess’, who alleges she was abused by the coach during the 1970s, said: “I feel if me doing this has just helped one person know that it’s not them, it’s not your fault, it’s him, then I’ve done something good. Something good will come of it.
“It wasn’t you. It was him. Bastard. What a bastard.”
Three investigations
Stan Wild founded the York City Gymnastics Club in 1974.
He represented Great Britain in gymnastics at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, and represented his country 26 times in total.
York City Gymnastics Foundation say that Mr Wild is no longer connected to their organisation.
North Yorkshire Police have investigated complaints against Wild three times, but on each occasion the Crown Prosecution Service has decided there was not enough evidence to support a successful prosecution.
The investigation, which also refers to the jailing of coaches Stuart Woods and David Schadek for 11 and four-and-a-half years respectively for offences against children, examines British Gymnastics’ attempts to address the failings identified by the Whyte Review, which was commissioned jointly by UK Sport and Sport England in 2020.
Its author, Anne Whyte KC, delivered a damning verdict in which she accused the governing body of enabling a toxic culture which prioritised profit over safeguarding and encouraged an era in which young gymnasts were subjected to shocking levels of physical and mental abuse.
Another child gymnast, Claire Heafford, speaks of her experiences working with a Russian coach.
She said: “We weren’t allowed to speak during training sessions. It was run like a military training camp.
“We were reprimanded, we were ostracised, we were thrown out of the gym. And when you put a child through six hours of criticism, six days a week, over an extended period of time, you come out of that system pretty broken.”
Coach Carlton Webster, who had worked alongside Woods, is not convinced the culture identified by Whyte has changed.
He said: “Here’s a fact: right now, today on the day of recording, right now in a gym, right now some kid is being verbally abused, physically abused, God forbid it, sexually abused. Today. Fact.
“That’s how the culture to me hasn’t changed.”
In a statement issued to the programme, British Gymnastics said: “British Gymnastics is halfway through an extensive programme of action to make gymnastics safe, positive, and fair for all and gymnasts and clubs have said progress is being made.
“The reforms are a joint effort involving experts and abuse survivors, who have been a vital part of the development of new safe sport policies. These are subject to independent scrutiny.
“Abuse, mistreatment and harm have no place in gymnastics. We urge anyone with concerns to come forward.”