British gymnasts who competed at Olympics and Commonwealth Games in abuse and bullying claims

Commonwealth gymnastics champion Lisa Mason (pictured), who competed for Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is among those claiming she suffered abused, some of which occurred when she was just 10

Dozens of British gymnasts, including an Olympic star, have claimed they were ‘beaten and starved’ as part of a culture of bullying from coaches. 

Commonwealth gymnastics champion Lisa Mason, who competed for Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is among those claiming she suffered abused, some of which occurred when she was just 10.

The now 38-year-old claims the abuse includes coaches putting Astroturf underneath her training area as a way of forcing her to keep her feet up and being made to train her hands bled. 

Meanwhile Catherine Lyons, now 19 and a former junior European and British gymnastics champion, has claimed she was assaulted and bullied by a coach.

Speaking to ITV news, the former gymnast, who has since walked away from the sport and has since undergone counselling, claims she was hit with a stick in once incident and in another was told she was overweight and alleges she was starved for a week. 

Another former elite gymnast told Sky News she was ‘beaten into submission’ by a coach.

Catherine Lyons (pictured), now 19 and a former junior European and British gymnastics champion, has claimed she was assaulted and bullied by a coach

She said: ‘Mental and physical abuse was entirely the norm. We were taught to be more scared of a coach than of the skill we were attempting and that that was the only way to achieve it.

‘I’ll never know if it was possible to be my level without it or if I could have been even better if I wasn’t beaten into submission.’

Miss Mason meanwhile said gymnasts were routinely ordered to train with the help of painkillers while injured.

She said: ‘We pretty much popped Voltarol constantly from the age of around 12. Some of my teammates could not do a training session without taking those.

Catherine Lyons is pictured here (left) competing for the British Gymnastics Team in the 2014 Artistic European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Lisa Mason competed for Britain at Olympic and Commonwealth level. She is pictured here competing at the British Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool in 2013

‘If that started wearing off, you’d get a cortisone shot.

‘I was made to compete with a grade three strain on my ankle and a stress fracture in my shin.’

The allegations come after the airing of Netflix film, Athlete A, which was released on June 24.

The film detailed the shocking crime of US team doctor Larry Nassar who was convicted of sexual offences against hundreds of underage American gymnasts.  

More than 500 women and girls came forward to say that they were abused by Nassar, including Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, and McKayla Maroney.

An investigation led to Nassar being sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexual abuse during his time with USAG and at Michigan State University.  

The film detailed the shocking crime of US team doctor Larry Nassar (pictured) who was convicted of sexual offences against hundreds of underage American gymnasts

Commenting on the abuse allegations by British gymnasts, British Gymnastics, the governing board for gymnastics in the UK, said: ‘The documentary ‘Athlete A’ currently being aired worldwide detailing the Larry Nassar scandal within USA Gymnastics has quite rightly shaken the sport to its core and has had a profound effect on us all.

‘[We] condemn any behaviour which is harmful to the wellbeing of our gymnasts.

‘Such behaviours are completely contrary to our standards of safe coaching.

‘Our Integrity Unit investigates all allegations of emotional abuse and bullying that are reported to us or identified by our national network of club welfare officers and takes disciplinary action to prevent recurrence.’