Claire Heafford

Claire Heafford experienced physical and emotional abuse as an elite gymnast training in the UK in the 1990s. Not only was she abused as a gymnast, but when she returned to compete in the sport she loved as an adult, she witnessed a horrific physical assault on a 10-year-old child and subsequently became a whistle-blower regarding the abusive coaching she had seen. Although the case was investigated, the coach in question was reinstated, leading her to realize that the safeguarding and child protection measures put in place by the governing body were, at best, ineffective. She therefore established the association “Gymnasts for Change”, as well as the UK’s 40-strong group legal action against British Gymnastics, as a way of supporting gymnasts who have been brave enough to speak out and of ensuring that, this time, their voices are heard collectively. She believes it is time for change and that there is power in collective action. She calls on others to join her in helping to end the exploitation and abuse of gymnasts in the sport by sharing resources and educating those around them about the ways abuse manifests itself. Now is the time to reclaim the sport from the authoritarian coaches who currently dominate elite coaching cultures around the world.