"Millions of people cried with me before I could get this"- Mother of young gymnast slams late apology from Gymnastics Ireland in racism incident

The mother of the young gymnast who faced racism during the GymStart Event in March 2022 has slammed Gymnastics Ireland for their delayed apology.

The incident saw a young black gymnast, whose family has chosen not to disclose their identity fearing racial abuse, getting completely ignored by an official who was handing over the medals to other participants.

In a recent interview with BBC News, the parents of the young gymnast said that the apology was 'useless' as it came 18 months after the incident occurred. The mother of the gymnast criticized Gymnastic Ireland's apology, perceiving it as insensitive, and felt that it was issued only after the video recently went viral and put pressure on the organization.

"I cried for so long and then millions of people cried with me before I could get this," the mother said. “The apology is almost useless. There was no empathy shown, I feel like it's not true. It's been 18 months and it seems like they were pressured to give me an apology."

The mother of the young gymnast suggested that the incident was traumatic for a 10-year-old. She said that her daughter performed well in the competition and believed that the incident happened only because she was black.

"It was almost as if though they blamed her for being black. It's something very uncomfortable for a 10-year-old to go through," she said. It is painful to actually state the obvious - my daughter was the only black child in that competition, she stood out well, there was no excuse for what happened."

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"This is beyond hurtful on so many levels" - Jordan Chiles shows her support to the young gymnast who allegedly experienced racial abuse

Jordan Chiles celebrates after completing her routine at the 2022 Gymnastics World Championships, in Liverpool, England

Born in Tualatin, Oregon, Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles is of black ethnicity. She showed empathy toward the young gymnast involved in the racism controversy.

Chiles took to social media to share a video of the incident, where the 10-year-old kept smiling despite not receiving the medal.

"Gymternet pls help me find this little girl," she wrote. "This is beyond hurtful on so many levels, I need you guys to find her pls."