[ad_1]
The stone begins to roll in summer. Back then, BLICK gymnasts raised accusations of torture against national coach Iliana Dineva, which ultimately cost the Bulgarian her head. And now, while an external investigation by the rhythmic gymnastics division of the Swiss Gymnastics Association (STV) is still ongoing, the following serious allegations follow. At the center of the allegations is Fabien Martin, the women’s national artistic gymnastics coach.
Lynn Genhart (18) and Fabienne Studer (19) unpack in the “magazine” of the “Tages Anzeiger”. Both were gymnasts at the national performance center in Magglingen since 2016. For Gerhart it came at the end of 2019, for Studer this year.
“Fabien had different strategies to bring us down,” says Genhart and attacks Giulia Steingruber’s coach head-on. An example: “We were lowered by the food, the weight.” They would have had to weigh every month. “They said we were tired because we were too fat. We were tired from psychological stress. We were powerless, weak-willed. Even today, when I’m tired, I think: it’s probably because of the weight. “
“I am incapable as a person, I am stupid”
Genhart was runner-up in the 2014 European youth general competition in Bern. The joy of this success is long gone. “I was ready. I am incapable as a person, I am stupid. They told me, always in front of everyone else: How do I feel who I am, a first-rate gymnast? … I no longer have the feeling that he won the silver medal at the European Championship in Bern. I think today was lucky because everyone around me fell. “
If the coaches had a conversation with the STV, it was always particularly bad, “the horror,” Genhart said. “There were screams, everyone was beaten… For some it was a physical problem. Others, like me, were mentally broken … Every day someone cried with us, every day. “
Psychological games were played with the gymnasts. “They groomed you and the next moment they misappropriated you. They kissed and hugged us, took away our reasons for rebelling. I was devastated, ”says Genhart. “Every time we thought it wouldn’t work anymore, they were nice until they got us back.”
“I had suicidal thoughts”
At Genhart, the dream of elite sport almost ended in tragedy. “One night I was sitting in my room in Magglingen and I thought: stop or not? I cried, I just sat there. In the middle of the night my daddy came looking for me. We went to the ambulance. The diagnosis: acute depression. I had suicidal thoughts. For a time, my parents had to accompany me everywhere, because they were afraid that otherwise I would not come home. “
He spoke with Fabien Martin. Genhart said his intentions weren’t bad. “He said to me like this: ‘Lynn, what should I do? I’m sitting in the STV conversation, six other people are there, preparing for me. Imagine how I have to feel. ›It was clear to me that coaches are also victims here, in this system. Therefore, the problem lies more with the STV himself than with the trainer.
Fabienne Studer says that Martin was worried about her from the beginning. “I think Fabien was annoyed with me almost from day one. But I was fifteen, happy, joking. He said he’d be home sooner than he thought. “
Threats as “part of the culture of fear”
After two falls in the World Cup, he attacked her personally. “He said it was a big disappointment, that it had embarrassed him and it also bothered him a lot how I eat.” Gymnasts from other nations stood by and listened to everything. “Then he asked me what I thought of the collapse. I said gymnastics wasn’t that fun. He said that he knew that he would answer him like that, that he was cowardly and lazy and that he didn’t have the strength to fight. “
His threats of expulsion are “part of the culture of fear” that prevails in Magglinen. “Fabien used his authority and tried to exercise power over me.”
Weight has always been a big problem at Studer. Then I was thin. But Fabien said he would drink too much candy. If he saw me with a Coke, he would call my mother. Soon he said it every day: I’m too fat, he’s afraid I’ll fall off the uneven bars, I’m that heavy. “
Fabien Martin, head coach of gymnasts since 2017, does not want to be quoted in the “magazine.” The STV writes about the allegations: “We are aware that there are differences of opinion between Fabien Martin and two gymnasts about sporting goals and the achievement of these goals. Unfortunately, these differences of opinion can arise in training. Based on our conversations with those involved, based on experience with Fabien Martin as a coach of STV for a long time and based on the good comments about Martin in the national team training environment, we continue to have full confidence in him as a head coach.
