Women gymnasts to take the floor as MPs begin hearings on safety in sport

The status of women study comes after repeated calls from hundreds of current and retired Canadian gymnasts for an independent investigation into their sport.

After months of imploring the federal government to clean up their sport, Canadian gymnasts will finally have the floor in Ottawa.

Gymnasts will be among the first to testify before members of Parliament Monday as the Standing Committee on the Status of Women begins its hearings on the safety of women and girls in sport.

“It feels like there are a lot of possibilities for good outcomes to happen,” said Kim Shore, a former member of Gymnastics Canada’s board of directors. “We’re really optimistic, particularly with the bipartisan approach that we’ve seen, which is essentially sport, isn’t it? The power of sport to bring people together, even if they have different world views.

“To come together on behalf of protecting children, protecting human rights, and the opportunity to make sport better in Canada fills us all with a ton of optimism.”

Shore is among the more than 500 former and current gymnasts _ Gymnasts for Change _ who’ve been tirelessly lobbying the government for an independent investigation. Gymnastics is one of several sports that have been vocal about the toxic environments of maltreatment.

The status of women study comes after repeated calls from hundreds of current and retired Canadian gymnasts for an independent investigation into their sport.

Shore hopes this study leads to a national judicial inquiry into sport.

“That’s exactly where these early steps must lead,” said Shore. “Gymnastics is but one example of many, many sports and many, many athletes who are facing very unsafe, unhealthy environments. And the only way to move forward on behalf of sports in Canada is to fix the system from the top down and the bottom up.