Sport Ireland received messages from around the globe in the wake of an international furore over a gymnastics medal ceremony in which a young black competitor was the only participant not to be given a medal.
An email from Pakistan said the medal incident had damaged “the international reputation” of Ireland while another said the presentation event had been a “profoundly despicable and shameful act”.
In internal emails, the development authority Sport Ireland grappled with how to respond to the video from the event organised by Gymnastics Ireland, which went viral more than a year after it happened.
The video showed a line of young athletes being presented with a medal except for one child and was viewed at least 50 million times after being shared on social media by the world-famous gymnast Simone Biles.
Complaints received by Sport Ireland about the Gymnastics Ireland event included one that said: “People of Irish descent have been the victims of racism. You would think they would want to chastise and denounce people who are racists.”
A message from Great Britain said: “I don't know how that child felt leaving the medal presentation ceremony as the lone one without a medal hanging on her neck but I felt terrible, devastated and desolate as an African living in the UK.”
Another criticised Sport Ireland’s handling of the incident and how they had “reconciled this poorly managed moment”.
“I’d like to know what you all did to make up for this oversight,” said their email.
Some of the messages were furious in tone with one saying the girl at the centre of the incident had been treated “like sh**”.
One message wrote of their shame of being Irish: “I have to live here with this on my soul.”
Another said: “How we treat young children of different races and backgrounds is core to who we are as a nation, inclusion is key.”
In internal Sport Ireland records, there was also discussion about how the family of the girl involved were unhappy with the Sport Ireland chief executive, Una May claiming that during a conversation with Ms May, she had said the incident was something inadvertent.
However, internal emails show that Sport Ireland did not believe this was a fair account of what had happened.
In discussion over what to say publicly, a statement was formulated saying: “From my [Ms May’s] recollection of the conversation, and certainly in the spirit it was meant, I believe the comments which have been attributed to me are lacking in context and are misconstrued.”
This was later softened to say it had been an informal conversation and Ms May had only raised the possibility it was accidental.
A revised text said: “From my recollection of the conversation, and certainly in the spirit it was meant, I believe the comments which have been attributed to me are lacking in context and are misconstrued.”
The internal records also detail how Sport Ireland came under pressure about the handling of the incident from government who had been questioned about it.
One text message said: “Minister [Jack Chambers] is likely to write to you and us about the issue. To be fair, he has to.”
Asked about the records, a spokesperson for Sport Ireland pointed to a previously issued press release saying they condemned “any form of racism whatsoever”.
“Sport must be welcoming and inclusive, offering appropriate opportunities for participation and improvement to all regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, disability, or sexual orientation,” it said.
