Michelle Timm is one of many gymnasts who has publicly criticized grievances at the Stuttgart federal base. In an interview with SWR Sport, the 27-year-old describes her experiences and advocates for changes to the system.
Numerous active and former gymnasts have made it public on social media that there was abuse at the national gymnastics base in Stuttgart. One of the athletes was Michelle Timm. The ex-gymnast spoke to SWR Sport about what she experienced and why the error lies in the system.
SWR Sport: You were a gymnast yourself, are now a trainer in Stuttgart and have clearly criticized the circumstances at the federal base in Stuttgart via Instagram. How have you perceived the past weeks and months?
Michelle Timm: I’m on site as a trainer in Stuttgart and I still do sports myself, although not at the same level as before. For a year or two things have been noticed again and again, and in the last few months more and more bad things have happened. There were a lot of people who noticed that something was going wrong.
What exactly was the misconduct that you observed?
We all know that competitive sport is hard and that it involves pushing yourself to the limit or beyond. And that it has to be voluntary. However, adults have to make sure that everything is still in order, especially with children. When you see that girls are expelled from the hall, that they sit crying in the changing rooms and have unpleasant things called after them, then that doesn’t work for me personally. Expelling the children from the hall completely is not an option for me because of the supervision requirement.
Of course the tone is rough from time to time, that’s completely okay, but not to this extent. If you then hear what the girls are told and that no attention is paid at all to how they feel or what is physically possible, then for me that goes beyond the limit and is no longer okay.
What do you see as the basic problems in this system?
This is often difficult for outsiders to understand. Most of us started at the age of three or four, where we have a close emotional connection to the people in gymnastics with whom we spend a large part of our lives. We sometimes spent more time with these coaches than with our own parents. This creates an enormous dependency that is difficult to explain to outsiders. Many people know that gymnastics is a tough sport in which things get intense early on. Nevertheless: If there are signs that someone is physically or mentally unable to do anything anymore, that someone is crying all the time, then for me that is something where everyone can see that something is wrong.
What motivated you to reach out to the public?
Now it just so happened that comments came from so many different places that I thought to myself: Now might be the only opportunity to do something. It’s not about me, theoretically I could have stayed out of it because I’m no longer active in the hall and have nothing to do with these trainers. But if I can prevent anyone from having to experience what we experienced again, then I will step forward to spare the girls this experience.
What I also have to say: I don’t come from Stuttgart, but grew up in Berlin. I still experienced these things. This shows even more that this error lies in the system. This needs to be fundamentally addressed, not just in Stuttgart. Even though I have currently observed the grievances here, even over several years, and I can just see how the girls are being destroyed by it. The girls competed for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga final and it just didn’t look like fun or joy there. There was no team feeling either, everyone just did their job. And when everyone comes up to you and says: ‘What’s going on with you in Stuttgart, the girls don’t look good’ – then that encourages you to put yourself out there again. That was also the reason why I contacted the DTB. That was mid/end of October and I also got an answer to that.
What happened next for you?
They contacted me very quickly, which surprised me positively. A telephone conversation quickly ensued, where my findings were noted with horror. I was then assured that they would take care of it. I know that discussions were then held, but I couldn’t see any consequences as a result.
Did that lead you to recently address the public with a social media post?
The public wasn’t our first choice, otherwise we would have taken that as a first step. We have previously approached a wide range of positions and tried to solve this without the media. In the end it was the last resort for us. It just happened that way. This certainly prompted several athletes to open up and tell their stories. And if that helps to change the system now, then we’re happy to use it in the hope that something will happen.
You are a trainer, you are employed by the Swabian Tuner Association, you are part of the system. How much courage did your public statement require?
The fact that I am part of the system was the reason for this statement. We’re not trying to tear this sport down, we all want to make this sport a better place for everyone. My and our history can no longer be processed or changed. For me it’s about helping those who are stuck in it now. It’s about making the path better and easier for young gymnasts.
DTB and STB stated in a joint statement that the investigation was ongoing and certain processes had been initiated. How do you rate that?
I heard conversations and that individual trainers were given conditions. Various measures such as protocols have also been introduced. But ultimately that’s just not enough. In my opinion, the consequences that are said to have happened are incomprehensible.
National coach Gerben Wiersma and junior national coach Claudia Schunk are scheduled to take over training in Stuttgart from January 7th. Do you think that makes sense?
I definitely think it makes sense for the training to be organized differently and for the people we spoke to to be taken out of it for the time being. That would have been the first logical consequence for me. However, I think it is difficult in our system for people who have already been counted elsewhere to reappear in new, sometimes stronger positions. This is a big mistake.
Many gymnasts stop at the age of 13 or 14. How do you rate that?
Basically, gymnasts peak their performance very early. But you can also grow older as a woman in gymnastics. Nevertheless, especially here, many girls stop early because they simply can’t physically and mentally anymore. And looking back, it’s striking that many of them ended up in the same training environment.
Many people stop at the age of 16, 17 or 18 because they are no longer physically able. And you can’t support that either. That’s why we want to fundamentally change the system. In principle, you can do the sport until you are 30 years old.
Broadcast on Saturday, January 4th, 2025, 2:00 p.m., Stadium, SWR1
