Gymnast Ellie Downie dropped from British team for speaking out
Olympic gymnastics star Ellie Downie tells how coaches sat on her to stretch her, searched her bag for food when she was just 10 and dropped her from British team for speaking out over abuse as she quits sport aged 23
- Gymnast Ellie Downie opened up about weight-shaming and mental health
- She announced her retirement from the sport on Monday
- The Olympian worries for her sister, Rebecca Downie, who continues to compete
- Ellie Downie left angry after complaint over weight-shaming was dismissed
Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie revealed coaches sat on her to stretch her, searched her bag for food when she was just ten years old, and dropped her from the British team for speaking out over abuse as she quits the sport aged 23.
Ellie Downie announced her retirement from the sport earlier this week with a statement. The gymnast said that the ‘difficult decision’ was not taken lightly, but she made the decision to prioritise her ‘mental health and happiness.’
‘Gymnastics has been my life for as long as I can remember and I’m proud of everything I was fortunate enough to achieve in the sport,’ she wrote.
On today’s Good Morning Britain, Ellie opened up in an interview to discuss her experiences in the gymnastic field in greater detail.
Ellie Downie, 23, revealed she quit gymnastics because she was dropped from the British team after she decided to speak out about abuse and weight-shaming in the field
Here she is in action in 2019 during an event, prior to her retirement, which she announced on Monday
When asked if she believed that her previous outspokenness about the abuse athletes involved in the sport faced had hampered her progress in the sport, Downie nodded in agreement.
She said: ‘Yeah definitely, like when it came to team selections, I already felt like I was not selected before trials and stuff had already took place, so yeah, it’s bittersweet.’
Referencing the Whyte Review, a fully independent review into allegations of abuse in gymnastics, interviewer Ranvir Singh asked Downie if she experienced similar treatment.
She asked: ‘Athletes in gymnastics were made to train on injuries, punished for needing the toilet, sat on by coaches, shouted and sworn at, and had their bags searched for food. Is that what you went through?’
Downie said: ‘When it came to team selections, I already felt like I was not selected before trials and stuff had already took place, so yeah, it’s bittersweet’
Downie nodded as the report was read out before she said: ‘We were definitely sat on by coaches for stretching reasons
‘If you were needing to have your hamstrings stretched a coach would sit on your back’.
Referring to the diet culture in the sport, she added: ‘And I’ve definitely had my bag searched for food.’
‘It all happens when you’re so young. The first time it happened to me I was on a training camp when I was like ten [years old] and they searched your bags for food to make sure you’ve not brought any other food with you.’
‘Everyone just kind of gets brainwashed. We actually got told by coaches that you couldn’t take food abroad and me and my sister genuinely thought that for years.’
Speaking about concerns she has for her sister Rebecca Downie, 31, who still competes in the sport, the 23-year-old added: ‘I know how hard she works and she deserves to be on those teams.
Rebecca Downie and Ellie Downie of Great Britain pose for a photo after the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
‘I worry that she potentially won’t get picked because of the stuff that we’ve said and it’s already happened to her once. I do worry about her.’
‘There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t know and people just see the end result of you being on the podium.’
On why she decided to speak about her experiences now, Eliie said, ‘I made the first move in 2020 when everyone was talking about the Gymnast Alliance.
‘But now for me to speak out, it’s since my brother passed away. I’ve just kept so quiet because I knew I couldn’t really create noise if I wanted to be in the [gymnastics] programme.’
In 2020, Ellie and Rebecca released a joint statement outlining the abusive behaviour the sisters had endured daily.
The statement read: ‘For too long, the health and well-being of young girls has been of secondary importance to a dated, cruel, and – we’d argue – often ineffective culture within women’s gymnastics training.’
‘We hope by speaking up today, we’ll not only support those who have already done so, but also encourage others who may want to, but have so far felt unable to do so.
On today’s Good Morning Britain, Ellie opened up in an interview to discuss her gymnastic experiences and how they impacted her mental health in greater detail
‘We’ll do everything in our power to see the sport showcase itself for what it should be: a place for boys and girls to have fun, be healthy and take it as far as they want to on their own terms.’
In 2020, Ellie said she ‘still hides food’ as a result of the damaging relationship with nutrition she developed through gymnastics.
Also, Downie had alleged that when she was 14 she was told by a nutritionist to lose 6kg in two weeks, provide food diaries and send daily pictures of her in her underwear.
The nutritionist, who is employed by the English Institute of Sport (EIS), was suspended while the allegations were investigated. But it was lifted after Downie’s complaint was not upheld.
In 2020, Ellie said she ‘still hides food’ as a result of the damaging relationship with nutrition she developed through gymnastics
In support for her younger sister, Rebecca tweeted: ‘Will always support you sister.
‘People need to remember this was NEVER a sport where you had to make weights to compete!’.
Both Ellie and Rebecca suffered the tragic loss of their brother, cricketer Joshua Downie, after he died suddenly from a heart attack in May 2021.
The world vault bronze medallist decided to take ‘some time away from the sport to be with her family’, while her older sister, Rebecca vowed to carry on with the Olympic trials.
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