Simone Biles responds to viral Irish video of young black gymnast being denied a medal

The recent viral clip, shows a girl, who was the only black gymnast in a line of young competitors, being skipped over, as the rest of her peers receive medals.

The video of the event, which took place in March of last year, has sparked outrage online, with celebrities and fellow athletes expressing their outrage.

Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don’t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous… pic.twitter.com/YYMIP1IALZ

— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) September 22, 2023

Of the incident, four-time US Olympic medal winner Simone Biles said: "there is no room for racism in any sport." Biles also sent the girl a video offering her support last year, after her parents had reached out.

when this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video

there is no room for racism in any sport or at all !!!!

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 23, 2023

Fellow Olympian Olympic silver medallist, Jordan Chiles, also weighed in, describing the incident as “beyond hurtful on so many levels."

Gymnastics Ireland has issued a statement saying that they had received a complaint pertaining to the March incident, that alleged racist behaviour; but an independent mediation had lead to a "resolution agreed by both parties in August 2022."

Speaking to The Irish Times, the organisation stated:

“The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the field of play.

“The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined. A written apology was instead issued to the competitor and her family.

The gymnast's mother, however, feels that Gymnastics Ireland has failed to publicly apologise and she has taken the matter to the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation in Switzerland.

The family also believes that their daughter was excluded purely on the basis of her skin colour.

"We are often the only black family at gymnastics events and this has been very hurtful for us," the mother told the Irish Independent on Sunday.

"Now eight million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia they can see this was wrong but Gymnastics Ireland still can't accept it and say sorry."

Gymnastics Ireland also issued a statement yesterday, clarifying that international judge Mairead Kavanagh was in fact not present at the event, amidst online speculation regarding the identity of the individual in the video.

Statement of Clarification - Mairead Kavanagh... https://t.co/nBciLdUC2h pic.twitter.com/vwm9dwbdWI

— Gymnastics Ireland (@GymnasticsIre) September 24, 2023

The organisation have denounced online speculation as "potentially defamatory" in a twitter clarification, saying that Gymnastics Ireland will be "bringing the matter to the attention of the Gardai."