Utah Gymnastics staff member's mother pens controversial statement in light of Kara Eaker's shock retirement before deleting it 

Kara Eaker announced her retirement from gymnastics on Saturday, citing abuse
Kara Eaker announced her retirement from gymnastics on Saturday, citing abuse

Olympian Kara Eaker recently announced her retirement from the sport of gymnastics. The young star claimed that an emotionally and verbally abusive environment in her training forced her into this decision.

Alongside retiring from gymnastics, the American also withdrew from the University of Utah where she trained and was enrolled as a student. Many fans assumed that the allegations were against Utah Gymnastics' head coach Tom Farden, and raced to Kara Eaker's defense across various social media sites.

However, in a now-deleted comment on Facebook, the mother of one of the Utah Gymnastics team's staff manager spoke out in defense of Farden. Julia McArthur Coda stated that Kara was seeking attention and that people shouldn't always be so quick to rush to the defense of the "victim".

As per a screenshot posted by u/humandisaster99 on r/Gymnastics on Reddit, Coda wrote:

"It's important to get all the facts before pointing fingers. Sometimes (often) those that are emotionally tormented blame a different source after the fact, in order to get attention. Unfortunately, Kara's attempt at getting attention is at the expense of a very successful coach and career and successful program that is not abusive.
"Are you all aware that Kara recently got married after meeting a guy online and dating for a very short time? Also, Kara was already emotionally damaged coming out of Gage, before entering the University of Utah.
"Her work ethic and attempts at being a good teammate are very questionable. There is A LOT to this story that you all don't know about! Don't always just side with the "victim". We all should refrain from judging before knowing all the facts."
Julie McArthur Coda's now-deleted comment on Facebook
Julie McArthur Coda's now-deleted comment on Facebook

However, a part of the comment is allegedly fabricated, as former Utah gymnast Sage Thompson's mother seemingly chimed in on X (formerly Twitter) to say that Kara Eaker has never been married.


Kara Eaker announces retirement at 20, alleges abuse at University of Utah

On Saturday, the 21st of October, Kara Eaker broke her month-long social media silence to announce her retirement. The gymnast shared a lengthy note on Instagram, detailing the reasons for her decision.

Eaker stated that she had been a victim of verbal and emotional abuse during her time at the Utah Gymnastics Team, which resulted in her developing anxiety, depression, PTSD, insomnia, night terrors, and panic attacks.

The Pan-American Games gold medalist mentioned that she had been seeing a university athletics psychologist for 18 months, and had now shifted to a new provider due to suicidal and self-harm ideation.

The 20-year-old also detailed that she would now be focused on stopping the cycle of abuse to protect little girls and women from harm, and has added multiple resources for the same in her bio.

Edited by Aniket Rai
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