Sport, especially at certain levels, requires effort and a lot of sacrifice. But there is a limit to everything. As two rhythmic gymnastics athletes have publicly denounced, Nina Corradini e Anna Bastaboth ex “Butterflies” of the National.
Nina CorradiniRoman, 19, former blue gymnast, left the “Farfalle” team in 2021 because he could not meet the “mental pressures”Of the Federgymnastics coaches, as she told in an interview. The coaches, according to when reported by the athlete, they encouraged her to lose weight to participate in the races. “I remember the day I found the strength to leave, it was June 14, 2021. I had spent every minute of the last previous months in want to escape from there. Now I want to inform and protect the youngest girls: everyone must know the reality ”says the athlete who joined the team in 2019. The former promise of rhythmic gymnastics, was considered by the coaches“ just a pawn. They never asked me how I was”.
The athlete was weighed every day “in his underwear in front of everyone, always by the same coach” who then marked the numbers in a notebook and gave the judgment. “I was trying to be last in line, I didn’t want to be teased in front of the team. The coach used to repeat to me every day ‘be ashamed’, ‘eat less’,’ how do you see yourself in the mirror? But can you really look at yourself? ‘ A suffering ”continues the silver medal at the European Juniors in Budapest in 2017. The weight ritual thus becomes a nightmare that leads Corradini not to eat. “I weighed myself 15 times a day. The laxative dehydrated me and, by not eating, I no longer had strength. I got sick, I had little iron in my body. Once I passed out at breakfast, but the trainers made me go to the gym anyway, they thought it was an excuse ”. Between the humiliations and the wrong relationship with food, Corradini finds the strength to say enough and leave the team but is still dealing with those ‘scars’: “I have a hard time eating in publicbut I hope to give a voice to all the other victims of these pressures ”.
And immediately after, in fact, another public complaint arrived, that of the former team company, Anna Basta, 21 years old, from Bologna. “Nina and I hit rock bottom together, Nina and I get up together”She writes on her Instagram profile posting a shot with her friend.
In the national team from 2016 to 2020, Basta also says she was targeted by the trainers and from rite of the scales. So much so that he thought about the suicide: “Once I didn’t act because someone came into the room and I was shaken. The second was among the people ”she confesses in an interview. “Did Nina use laxatives? I used to take the Ten Herbs, tablets that help you go to the bathroom. The problem is that I used them improperly, ”she adds, revealing that she had had eating problems for which she sought the help of a psychologist. Basta also admits that in the years spent with Federgymnastics in Cesano Maderno the greatest fear was the humiliations which he would have had to undergo if he failed the balance test. “I realized I had gotten to a point where I didn’t live well with myself, where I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror ”he explains again. Hence the decision to report what happened. “As soon as I started talking, I broke many relationshipsthere have been bad reactions but I go ahead, I do it for the girls ”underlines the athlete who collected a total of three medals at the European Championships in Guadalajara 2018.
The press release from Federginery
After these revelations the Federginnastica intervened with a note: “The Fgi does not tolerate any form of abuse and is always at the side of all its members. Sport, with gymnastics in the first place, is respect for the person, a celebration of talent and well-being. Arrangements have been made for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the Safeguarding Officer for the assessments and actions of their respective competence. On these profiles the Federation is committed to improving both information and prevention. A few months ago a pilot project began and the Safeguarding Officer was established, a new body with specific psychological and legal skills which, together with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, has a well-rounded approach. For this reason all gymnasts and gymnasts, technicians and managers are invited to come forward and whoever has information contact the FGI, which will guarantee confidentiality and listening ”.