"I was verbally attacked without any signs of sympathy” - Former Utah gymnast comes out in support of Kara Eaker by opening up on abusive coaching 

Former Utah gymnast Kim Tessen recently opened up about abusive coaching in the university to show support to elite gymnast Kara Eaker.

On Friday, the two-time world champion Eaker stunned the world with her decision to retire from Utah University as a gymnast and as a student. She claimed in a social media post that she faced verbal and emotional abuse from a coach and found a complete lack of support from the university’s administration.

Showing support and solidarity for Kara Eaker, former star Team Utah gymnast Kim Tessen also opened up about similar experiences at the university in a social media post. The official X (formerly known as Twitter) page of Gymnastics Now shared Tessen’s sordid coaching experiences in Utah.

In her post, Tessen revealed that the University’s gymnastics team promised her a “caring, family-type environment with an understanding coach.”

However, it was absolutely opposite to what she had expected. The gymnasts in the team were always compared with each other, in terms of skill and body by the coaches.

Kim Tessen named coach Tom Farden in her post stating that he would criticize gymnasts in an extreme manner. She also said that the coach would suggest negative consequences if they did not eat or look a certain way.

Tessen also made allegations about favoritism from the coach in her post. The gymnast explained that the coach’s behavior of being nice to only some gymnasts would create a divide in the team.

"Overall, it's very clear there's a significant power imbalance between not only the coaches and the athletes, but amongst the team members as well."

She added:

"I was verbally attacked without any signs of sympathy several times."

Sharing her ordeal, Tessen expressed that it was important for others to also open up about their experiences to show support to Kara Eaker.

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Kara Eaker raised her voice against the toxic gymnastics environment at the University of Utah

Eaker at a championship (Image via Instagram)

Kara Eaker recently left the University of Utah due to the unfortunate experiences that she incurred with its gymnastics team. In a social media post, the 20-year-old revealed that the torment she endured at the Utah Gymnastics team for so long took a toll on her mental and physical health.

She shared that she felt betrayed by the gymnastics team’s environment that initially promised her a “family” and “sisterhood” environment. Eaker revealed instances of "loud and angry outbursts" from a coach that discouraged her from communicating to him.

Kara Eaker added that when she went to report her discomfort to the University officials, she was neglected or gaslighted. It made her realize that the problem largely lay in the university’s system that would continue to promote toxic behavior in its premises.