Kim Janas leaves little doubt about her experiences as an
“From a human perspective, it was absolutely awful,” she told DW.
Identified as a future star, Janas grew up training at the elite center in her hometown of Halle in eastern Germany. It was there that she soon discovered the dark side of her beloved sport.
“When I was eight or nine, I was told I was too fat,” Janas said. “I was told that I had a medicine ball in my stomach that absolutely had to go, and that I was banned from eating my food and even (drinking) water, because it has carbohydrates.”
Janas, now 25, is one of a dozen former who have gone public with their stories of abuse, with the sport in the country once again facing a reckoning, as it did after a scandal surrounding the Olympic training center in Chemnitz in 2020.
The latest wave of allegations, initially made on social media, were apparently triggered by the surprise retirement of 17-year-old Meolie Jauch at the end of last year. Jauch had trained in Stuttgart, where much of the abuse is alleged to have occurred.
In a statement on December 31, the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) said it was investigating the complaints and had taken unspecified “measures,” with local media reporting that two coaches from Stuttgart had been suspended.
Allegations of abuse widespread
The gymnasts have revealed including being threatened and humiliated; developing eating disorders; and training with broken bones.
Janas says she also endured pain during training but was cast aside after suffering the first of three cruciate ligament tears.
“I was dropped like a hot potato, because nobody thought I could come back and compete with a torn cruciate ligament,” the former German youth champion said.
“I was basically no longer worth anything to my coach. And then you think: ‘Oh, is the injury my fault?’ You keep blaming yourself over and over, and at some point, this completely destroys you.”
Aged 14 and no longer feeling welcome in Halle, Janas switched to the Olympic training center in Stuttgart. She says the move was the best decision for her gymnastics career, but now in hindsight, recognizes that she was affected by her treatment there, too.
“I made the comparison that I went from one hell to a better hell,” she said.
“We know competitive sport requires going beyond your limits. But that doesn’t mean that children should be abused psychologically, because that happened to me in Halle and in Stuttgart.”
‘I tried to do something’
Michelle Timm tells a similar story.
A product of the Stuttgart system, she says she was forced to train when injured but normalized such practices, believing it wasn’t worth saying anything because of the “influence” her coaches had on her.
“It’s just the case that you start so young and you’re so dependent on these coaches that you just don’t realize it,” the former German national team member told DW.
“Once you’re out of this bubble and can look at it from the outside, then you really notice that a lot of things weren’t right.”
Since bowing out of elite gymnastics in 2022, Timm has been coaching a group of seven to nine-year-old boys, sharing the training hall in Stuttgart with the women’s team and witnessing the same problems that she herself had experienced.
That prompted the 27-year-old to write to the DTB in October 2024, raising her concerns.
“I had to weigh up whether I could live with seeing these things and not do anything,” she said. “In the end, it didn’t leave me alone. And that’s why I tried to do something.”
Despite receiving an initial phone call, Timm felt her concerns went unaddressed.
Did promised ‘culture change’ happen?
In the wake of the Chemnitz scandal, the DTB promised a “culture change,” vowing, among other things, to take into account the needs of young gymnasts. Having indicated the problems went beyond Chemnitz, the organization set up a working group to look at other training centers in Germany. However, the results were never published, with the DTB previously admitting no other coaches had been sanctioned.
As far as those making the allegations are concerned, what might look good on paper hasn’t translated into actual change. Only now, they say, has there been a reaction.
“The positive thing is that it’s getting so much attention, because of course it’s now forcing people to act,” Timm said. “And I have to say, I don’t think that would have happened otherwise.”
In a written response to a query from DW, the DTB said it had been “shocked” by the individual reports, while insisting the reforms it introduced in 2021 had “achieved important changes and improvements.”
“The current statements show that we have not yet reached our goals,” the DTB said. “We must acknowledge that it takes time for changes in attitude and mindset to become part of everyday training. We are very aware that we will be judged on how we deal with the current accusations. This is the only way we will be able to maintain and regain trust.”
Hopes for the future
Despite it all, Timm says she is hopeful for the future — with a caveat.
“There have to be very clear rules, so that everyone knows in which direction we’re going and how we want to challenge and support the children together, without knocking them down,” she said. “There should definitely be consequences for things that have gone wrong.”
For Janas, that doesn’t have to involve officials or coaches being fired, but rather for them “to show remorse” for what went on.
“They need to be really interested in changing things, and above all, stop covering things up,” Janas said. “Because it’s precisely this cover-up that leads to this vicious circle where people say: ‘We didn’t know anything.’
“What I would really like is for children to have fun again, so that they don’t come to the gym and immediately start crying and feel scared to interact with their coaches. It should simply be healthier in the sense that children don’t end up broken and say: ‘I don’t know who I am or what I want. Why am I alive? What am I good for?’”
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
The post ‘I went from one hell to another:’ Former Germany youth champion details gymnastics abuse appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
