The Whyte Review of British Gymnastics: What the Report Found

The Whyte Review's British Gymnastics findings, published on 16 June 2022, were that gymnast wellbeing and welfare had not been at the centre of the sport's culture for much of the period reviewed, and that safeguarding concerns and complaints were not handled consistently well. The independent review was co-commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England, led by Anne Whyte QC, and covered August 2008 to August 2020. Its figures describe submissions from the gymnastics community, not a measurement of prevalence across the whole sport.

The desk · Reviewed 11 October 2026

Why was the Whyte Review commissioned?

The review followed disclosures made to the press in summer 2020 by current and former British gymnasts about alleged abuse in their sport, after the airing of the documentary Athlete A about abuse in US gymnastics. The allegations included emotional and physical abuse by coaches, and a common theme was a sense that British Gymnastics had failed to prevent such behaviour or had condoned some of it in pursuit of success.

Whyte was asked three questions: whether gymnast wellbeing and welfare was at the centre of the culture of British Gymnastics, its clubs and coaches; whether safeguarding concerns and complaints were dealt with appropriately; and whether gymnasts or their parents felt unable to raise complaints, and why. The report notes that over 75% of British Gymnastics members during the period were children under 12.

Its membership figures give the scale. In 2008 British Gymnastics had 185,558 individual members, and in 2020 it had 364,178, an increase of 96%. Clubs holding membership rose from 1,376 to 1,550 over the same years, an increase of 12.5%, while the number of coaches fell from 10,088 to 7,389, a decrease of 26%.

What evidence did the review gather?

The review received submissions from over 400 individuals in response to its call for evidence. Of 355 submissions in scope, 70% were primarily negative about the contributor's experiences, 13% primarily positive, 9% mixed and 8% neutral or unknown. Whyte invited 271 individuals to meet her team and held meetings with 190.

The report cautions that the 355 in-scope submissions represent a small proportion of those taking part in the sport, and that the volume of submissions on women's artistic gymnastics was high compared with the number of participants.

What did it find about abuse and weight management?

The executive summary reports that over 40% of submissions described physically abusive behaviour, primarily during training, including inappropriate training on injury, excessive training loads and withholding food, water and access to the toilet. Over 50% reported an element of emotional abuse, such as shouting, belittling language and isolating a gymnast. Among those who described abusive behaviour, the call for evidence chapter reports 67% spoke of emotional abuse, 49% of physical and 9% of sexual abuse, with many describing more than one type.

Allegations of sexual abuse featured in some 30 submissions, and the report says these behaviours did not appear systemic in the way physical and emotional abuse did. Excessive weight management was raised by over 25% of those who contacted the review, and the report describes excessive weighing of elite gymnasts as a common occurrence for much of the period.

What did it conclude about complaints and what followed?

Whyte concluded that British Gymnastics' management of safeguarding concerns and complaints was not consistently appropriate or rigorous, although it improved in several ways after 2016, and that many gymnasts felt unable to raise complaints. British Gymnastics estimated it had received some 3,500 complaints over the period but conceded it had no overall record for 2008 to 2016. The review also recorded that sexual abuse allegations were taken seriously and that criminal records checks were handled competently.

Among the problems identified in complaints handling were inactivity and unwarranted delay in some cases, inadequate investigation, poor record keeping and communication, and over-reliance on volunteer club welfare officers who were not trained to investigate and, in some cases, lacked independence because they were connected to the coach concerned. The report also concluded that British Gymnastics had historically failed to invest enough human and financial resources in safeguarding and welfare.

The report stipulated that the board publish progress against recommendations at six, twelve and twenty-four months. On publication UK Sport and Sport England said they accepted and endorsed all of its recommendations and apologised that their assurance systems had not identified the cultural problems until relatively recently. In January 2023 the two bodies published 19 commitments, and a July 2025 update reported a national network of 63 Sport Welfare Officers.