Pauline and Helene Schäfer publicly spoke up about abuse they experience during their gymnastics training. They gave an interview to Spiegel.de alongside Sophia Steurer, Lisa Hill, Isabelle Marquardt, and Rosa-Lynn Schmitz detailing psychological and emotional abuse by the coaches
In addition to being body-shamed and forced to train while injured, Helene Schäfer recounted how she was prescribed an opioid painkiller for her prolonged hip pain. She said the prescription was suggested by her coach Gabi Frehse and Schäfer was not warned the drug was potentially addictive.
Translation of the video transcript by @swaggygymnerd.
Pauline and Helene Schäfer also released and Instagram statement, saying:
“[…] we received a tactical education focused on incapacitating and suppressing athletes. Humiliation, controlling behaviours, manipulation, psychological terror, and body shaming – all of this was on the daily agenda. Abuse was perceived as normal because one didn’t know any different and we were making sacrifices for success. It took us a long time to understand that on a daily basis, our personal rights were disregarded and our physical boundaries were completely ignored”.
Even though both sisters love the sport, they are now considering retirement after the Tokyo Olympics. They hope that by speaking out they will be able to help the sport change and encourage others to speak up as well:
“Now, we want our experiences to help create greater awareness for the aforementioned problems, to recognize them and prevent them. We offer our support to those who feel the need to talk about their experiences or want to take action. Reach out to us via Facebook and Instagram. Because, in the end, we not only want to support those that have come out already, but also encourage those that couldn’t so far”.
Full translation of the Instagram statement by @zwischenschwung.
Unfortunately, as it happened so often in the past, allegations of abuse against coaches touch a nerve in the community and other members might feel inclined to speak up and say that their experiences were positive or that it was just tough coaching and not abuse. Sophie Scheder who shared a coach with Schäfer sisters felt the need to point out that her experiences were different:
“If you decide to take up the path of competitive sports, you have to be prepared that it will not be a walk in the park. […] Also with me there were always moments when i could not find common ground with my coach Gabi. But such differences exist in all areas of life and in my opinion they are quite normal. Everyone knows that the topic of nutrition plays an important role, especially in gymnastics. And I think it’s not wrong to draw attention to it during the training process to protect the gymnast from injuries. Every person, in the sense of every athlete, perceives what is said differently and that the tone is sometimes sharper with coaches or that a certain disappointment can be heard should not be an accusation but is simply human”.
Full translation of the statement by @LLovesgym.
Photo: Spiegel.de
