S2 E47: The story of the young black gymnast who stood up against racism and Gymnastics Ireland

In March 2022, a young black gymnast in Ireland was not given a medal she deserved thanks to her skin colour. Her parents called for an apology. Nothing happened for a full year. Soon, the video of this act of racism went viral. Her parents also tagged Simon Biles (the 4-time Olympic gold winning Gymnast from the USA) and asked her for help.

 Simon was moved by what she saw and called out Gymnastics Ireland (the organisation that had hosted this event) for their racist attitude. She also sent the little girl a personal message encouraging her to keep practising, and that race had no place in any sport.

Millions of viewers from around the world called for an apology, and pressure from social media kept building. A full 18-months later, Gymnastics Ireland sent an apology to the parents for what happened.

Social media has a lot of potential for causing unnecessary harm to the young and the old. This, however, is one instance where social media brought justice to a little girl in a corner of the world.

To watch the original video of the event where the young black gymnast was ignored, click here.

To listen to travel stories on 'Misadventures of a Sneaker' click here.

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