Human Rights Commission: "Students in Artistic Gymnastics Should Not Be Forced to Excessive Weight Control"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) pointed out that middle and high school artistic gymnastics athletes are being forced to excessively control their weight, among other human rights violations.

On the 27th, the NHRCK issued a recommendation to the Minister of Education, the superintendents of education of all cities and provinces, and the President of the Korea Gymnastics Association, emphasizing the need to protect and promote the human rights of middle and high school artistic gymnastics athletes. The NHRCK, highlighting the need to eradicate human rights violations in the sports sector, launched a Special Investigation Team on Sports Human Rights in February 2019 to comprehensively assess the human rights situation of student athletes in elementary, middle, and high schools.

The investigation revealed that middle and high school artistic gymnastics athletes suffer less from direct human rights violations such as physical and sexual violence, but rather face issues related to the nature of their sport, including excessive training and extreme weight control. Additionally, the NHRCK pointed out that most gymnastics student athletes live in multi-person dormitories where their use of mobile phones is restricted, resulting in a lack of privacy protection for the athletes.

The NHRCK recommended that the Minister of Education and the superintendents of education scientifically improve the training system regarding training hours, intensity, and frequency, establish guidelines, and ensure compliance. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the dormitory environment should be improved to broadly enhance the human rights of artistic gymnastics athletes living in middle and high school sports dormitories. To the President of the Korea Gymnastics Association, the NHRCK recommended developing and distributing to coaches and athletes a scientific training system and weight management program that consider growth and development stages as well as the athlete’s life cycle, to prevent health risks caused by excessive training and weight control.

The NHRCK stated, "Going forward, the NHRCK will continue activities to raise awareness that sports are for everyone’s enjoyment and to protect and promote the human rights of sportspeople," adding, "We will pay special attention to protecting the human rights of athletes in vulnerable sports disciplines within the sports sector."

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