Gymnastics with broken bones?
Ex-athlete with serious allegations against associations
December 28, 2024 – 6:15 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
She was one of the elite German gymnasts and also took part in the Olympic Games. Now Tabea Alt has spoken out – and expressed sharp criticism of coaches and associations.
They are words that take your breath away: The former top gymnast Tabea Alt published a post on Instagram on Saturday afternoon and reported on the mental and physical abuse she suffered over the years, including at the federal base of the DTB (German Gymnastics Federation). Stuttgart is said to have experienced this.
“For a long time I hesitated to speak out publicly about the grievances in Stuttgart, but also in German women’s gymnastics in general,” writes the 24-year-old. She always preferred to address such things internally first and for this reason wrote a letter to her home trainer, the national coach, the DTB president, the team doctor and other responsible people three years ago. In it she drew attention to grievances and suggested solutions for dealing with future gymnastics talents. Without success. “It was ignored or simply not taken seriously,” says Alt.
Then the 2016 Olympic participant comes out: During her active time, her “health was specifically put at risk.” Medical instructions were not taken into account. She even had to do gymnastics and take part in competitions with broken bones. Alt continues: “It’s not an isolated case: eating disorders, punishment training, painkillers, threats and humiliation were the order of the day. Today I know it was systematic physical and mental abuse.”
Alt, who won the bronze medal on balance beam at the World Championships in Montreal in 2017, calls for athletes to “finally be heard” by their coaches and federations. She ended her career early in April 2021 due to several long-term injuries. “It’s about young people, it’s about their health and that their careers don’t end before they even start,” she writes. It’s also “about protecting what is probably the most beautiful sport in the world. This system has to change in order to be able to develop further.”
Alt received prominent support for her contribution. For example, javelin thrower Julian Weber, 2022 European champion, commented: “So strong, exactly right, to make such grievances public, that’s the only way you can really make a difference.”
The German gymnast Emma Malewski, who won gold on the balance beam at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, also supported Alt’s words: “It’s bad enough that you have to go public with it so that you can be heard,” said the 20-year-old. “You are very strong.”
Malewski may also be referring to another gymnast’s contribution with her comment. Carina Kröll also drew attention to the grievances in gymnastics via Instagram on Saturday afternoon. She wrote, among other things: “Even attending a doctor’s appointment was problematic. If I had to leave five minutes earlier, the training also started five minutes earlier so that no time was lost.” To this day, she still finds it difficult to give her body a break when she is sick without feeling bad.
Meanwhile, the DTB responded to a query from SWR about the allegations and emphasized: “The German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) as well as the Swabian Gymnastics Federation (STB) take the public debate and the allegations on the subject of mental health of competitive gymnasts very seriously “In this context, the DTB and STB have concrete information about possible misconduct on the part of responsible trainers at the federal base in Stuttgart.” The incident is now being processed.