Black child gymnast being overlooked in medal ceremony?

[Loopylooni]

Anyone else horrified at this?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12554637/Gymnastics-Ireland-embroiled-racism-row-young-black-competitor-skipped-medal-ceremony-Olympic-champion-Simone-Biles-condemns-heartbreaking-incident.html#comments

please STOP. you're trying to justify racism. Did you watch the video?

There is no comparison with what happened to your daughter if it's to be believed .These girls weren't squished. She saw her, appeared to have spoken to her and REFUSED to give her the medal.

Was your child the only black child there?

If you can’t even have a healthy discussion about the possibility that it may have been a genuine mistake as opposed to racism then you are part of the problem. Because you are creating divides where there aren’t any. I am not justifying racism. I am saying that there is a possibility it may not have been racism. And a genuine mistake that may have been jumped on. Images and videos can be misleading. We all know that.

No, I think you will find people like YOU are part of the problem

The photographer didn't ignore the girl - quite the opposite. He bends down to speak to the girl in a friendly manner - she reacts in a happy, if somewhat surprised and bashful way, by smiling and putting her hands on her chest. It seems as though the photographer is taking the girl's photograph, although he steps out of view as he does so - when he comes back into view he is still looking directly at the girl and smiling at her. The photographer was busy - he was probably pleased to photograph a happy, smiley child and didn't think about the medal - some of the other girls look a bit dopey and miserable. The coach and other officials should have said something if they were looking on - perhaps one of them did say something a minute or two later.

It would be helpful to know whether the official (judge) actually spoke to the girl. Did she make any comments as to why she might have thought the girl shouldn't receive a medal at that point?

Gymnastics Ireland have clearly messed up all round - I read this in the Guardian today;
During mediation, the girl’s mother discovered that the judge had written a long personal apology within days of the competition, and sent it to the GI official who was liaising with the family. It was never passed on.

The thing is, there was one child without a medal(that the lady was aware of) and one medal left over at the end. Even then, there was no attempt to rectify the "mistake" . Why not?

People who want to consider different options and possibilities before hanging someone out to dry. Yes we are definitely part of the problem!

It did happen to my daughter. I am not making it up. If you choose to not believe me because it fits your angle then it is your problem.

Actually you said it definitely wasn't racism.

yes let’s try and trip people up. It felt to me like an accident. Yes racism is a possibility but of the two things I feel that it is more likely to have been and accident because missing someone out in a lineup when you are handing out a bunch of medals is easily done in my experience. If it was due to racism it is horrendous. If it wasn’t then it’s a shame for the person doing it. Guess the only person than will ever know for sure is the person heading out the medals.

stop being obtuse. please!

I am not being obtuse. I am disagree with you. You are just annoyed that a person has a different opinion on a discussion website and are therefore mudslinging.

make malicious or scandalous allegations about an opponent with the aim of damaging their reputation.

have you just learnt the word mudslinging?

I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt but I've just watched the video and how on earth could she not know what she was doing? She was in front of that poor sweet little girl for ages, then looking back. Why did her mind blank out this poor girl like she didn't exist? Even if following the tannoy of names you know she's not standing there for the fun of it so obviously is there for a medal.
I don't think anyone can excuse this behaviour and say it's not racism.

But you said just don’t see how it have been anything other than a genuine accident. But now you're saying it can be racism? But it probably wasn't because... why? It doesn't chime with your personal experience?

How do you suppose she accidentally missed this girl who she stood right in front of, and side stepped her to place the medal on the other girl? The woman even left the line to fetch all the other little expectant girls their medal, and walked off with one in her hand. Was not handing an award to the only black girl forgettable? Or were the other girls just so much more important?

I heard the story, didn’t know they were black but thought after I hope to fuck they weren’t black. Most horrible, horrific thing. Poor girl xxxxxxx

You don’t see it because you’ve never been on the receiving end of racism. You don’t see it- fine. How, when it’s so blatant I don’t know.

@Emeraldsrock

Honestly, you're embracing yourself.

There's maybe a one in a million chance that was accidentally.

Eg. Impossible. Its not everyone else on this thread refusing to embrace the chance it was an accident, is it? It's you refusing to acknowledge that all the overwhelming evidence points to the fact it was personal.

We are rightly outraged for this gorgeous little girl and the injustice she faced.

Embarrassing

All of this.

That woman felt comfortable enough in that environment to make her overt display of racism by overlooking that little girl. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens thanks to deep rooted, institutionalised racism akin to a Yorkshire cricket club.

Shocking. It makes me so angry.

It's embarassing for Ireland as well. I'm in Ireland. It makes Ireland looks like it's in the 1950s.

Though embarassment is a good thing as it can make change. I do personally think that there is a lot of racism in ireland. I see it all the time. And then black people here have also told me.

Ireland can be quite isolated from the rest of the world as it is an island. People don't know what goes on here really in detail. They just see the "yay happy friendly Irish people" that is the image given by the tourist board.

It is not like that in reality in Ireland. There is a lot of racism and abuse going on here in Ireland. There are a lot of things that Ireland needs to improve on. There are good things going on in Ireland too. But there is a lot of racism going on here. A lot

I’m surprised some people can still type the way they’re tying themselves in knots to justify this out and put racism. That poor little girl must have been crushed. My nieces and nephews are mixed race, and I know if this had happened to them, my sister would have been absolutely fuming.

I do think people like emeraldsrock should be allowed to express an opinion.

We don't want people to be afraid to say anything other than "that is definitely racism".

I feel afraid to say anything other than that is definitely racism on here, because I know I'll be shouted at and told I'm a racist.

Like emeraldsrock said, I do believe the possibility exists, that maybe the woman just forgot to give the medal.

However there is also a strong possibility that she is simply racist. She left out the only black girl which looks suspicious.

I think it's important for people to be able to express opinions on here.

I see gymanstics Ireland have released a longer apology

If it had been an accident there would have been a statement saying so

The coach and other officials should have said something if they were looking on - perhaps one of them did say something a minute or two later

Presumably they must have done, or the lass wouldn't have been given her medal before leaving the field of play?

On the face of it the whole thing looks terrible, but what beats me is that, if it was a mistake, the lady wouldn't simply have said so (while still apologising of course)
It's the missing explanation that seems to be causing some of the angst, but then maybe there isn't one beyond the obvious