A complaint by World and European medallist Ellie Downie about her treatment as a teenage gymnast has not been upheld after an investigation by the English Institute of Sport (EIS).
The investigation was launched after Downie posted a statement on social media which made allegations of weight-shaming.
"From 14 years old I've been told to diet consistently. At one time at this age, again after being told I was too heavy, I was told by a nutritionist to provide food diaries of everything that entered my mouth and send daily pictures of me in my underwear to ensure I wasn't lying," she posted.
A statement from the EIS to ITV News on Tuesday confirmed that an external examiner had found that the complaint should not be upheld.
"All relevant individuals were interviewed by a senior EIS member of staff and the subsequent report was submitted for a full review to an external independent investigator, who has experience of investigations within high performance sport. The conclusion from this process is that the complaint was not upheld," the statement said.
I've not done this to satisfy myself. This is to stop it happening to all those young gymnasts out there. Yes sometimes you may need nutritional help to improve your performance, but that's not what this was! And it CANT continue. But honestly this is why we haven't spoken before https://t.co/kUANndddpk
— Ellie Downie (@elliedownie) September 8, 2020
Reacting to the news of her complaint not being upheld on social media, Downie said the culture in the organisation could not be allowed to continue.
"I've not done this to satisfy myself. This is to stop it happening to all those young gymnasts out there. Yes sometimes you may need nutritional help to improve your performance, but that's not what this was! And it CAN'T continue. But honestly this is why we haven't spoken before," she said.
Downie was one of a number of gymnasts to come forward with complaints. Beckie Downie, Ellie's sister, called out the "ingrained" and "completely normalised" culture of abusive behaviour in British Gymnastics. Olympic medallist Amy Tinkler also made a formal complaint against the organisation after she said she was forced to retire at 20 because of her experiences with coaches.
Tinkler confirmed in August that she had requested further clarification about her complaint after she was told by British Gymnastics that her allegations had been dealt with and the matter closed.
"The way I received this information made me sick. It reinforced mine and every gymnast's fear, which is that their complaints aren't dealt with fairly and independently," she said in a statement on Twitter.