Two other gymnasts report psychological abuse

The signature on the complaint is that of the mother of two sisters, very young rhythmic gymnastics athletes, who in the offices of the Mobile Squad of the Brescia Police Headquarters denounced the alleged psychological abuse suffered by her daughters by the gym coaches who attended the minors.

Until her parents decided to withdraw them.

She didn't mention names, but she turned the spotlight on the discomfort experienced by gymnasts in the gym.

The woman told of the fixations for the weight that the girls would have been forced to respect, from the test of the scales in panties and without the possibility of failing to the humiliations in front of exercises carried out not flawlessly.

The complaint was then transmitted to the Prosecutor's Office and is now on the table of the public prosecutor Alessio Bernardi, of the department of weak subjects.

At the moment the confidentiality on the part of the investigators is maximum.

The family of a 15-year-old from Brescia, star of rhythmic gymnastics, registered for a Brescia club until a few months ago, when she had suddenly abandoned sports activity and broke off relations with the coach, is also hiding behind the silence.

"For now we can't say anything," said the 15-year-old's mother speaking on the phone with ANSA.

Like the very young, another gymnast from the same club, but two years younger, she had suddenly retired.

The Brescia case becomes public a few days after the reports of two former 'butterflies' of the Italian national team.

Through the newspaper Repubblica, Nina Corradini and Anna Basta have in fact recounted the humiliations, constraints and pressures suffered when they attended the Academy of Desio (Monza and Brianza), especially with regard to weight maintenance.

"Insults if I didn't lose weight, that's why I ran away from the calvary of rhythmic gymnastics" they told the newspaper.

Federgistici had asked the federal prosecutor to shed some light, underlining that "the FGI does not tolerate any form of abuse and is always at the side of all its members".

Both have left the sport and evidently with their public outbursts have paved the way for complaints from other rhythmic gymnastics athletes.

Nina Corradini has also opened a social column, 'You are not alone', to raise awareness among young people on this topic also in relation to eating disorders.

Anna Basta has revealed that she has even come to think about suicide and, also for this reason, to have decided with her friend Nina to "not shut up anymore".

The institutions are now intervening on the issue.

The Minister of Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, will meet tomorrow morning at the headquarters of the CONI president, Giovanni Malagò, and that of Federgymnastics, Gherardo Tecchi, to address the issue of the complaints presented in recent days by some rhythmic athletes.