What happened to the Iowa Women’s Gymnastics program? Everything about the on going internal investigation

The Iowa Women's Gymnastics program has come under the scanner recently and is reported to be going through an internal investigation. This measure comes after team members and staff raised concerns regarding the environment of training and the head coach, Larissa Libby.

Phil Catanzano, co-founder of Education & Sports Law Group in Boston is going to head this investigation regarding an acceptable environment for gymnasts in the university. Moreover, Larissa Libby has been sent on administrative leave to protect the fairness and integrity of the investigation.

The Hawkeye Athletics Department of Iowa University recently issued a statement in which it cleared the air over the entire situation. The statement reads:

"The University of Iowa Department of Athletics has retained Phil Catanzano, co-founder of the Education and Sports Law Group, to conduct an independent review of the women’s gymnastics program"

It further added:

"Recently, members of the team and staff brought forward concerns regarding the head coach, related to the environment within the program. After learning of these concerns, it was determined an independent review of the program was warranted. We are committed to the well-being of our student-athletes and to ensuring that they train and compete in a respectful and safe environment."

Currently, the Hawkeyes are in the 9th position at the Big Ten Championships in Women's Gymnastics. Besides, three members from the Hawkeyes have been selected for the upcoming NCAA regionals on April 4.

Larissa Libby: All you need to know about the head coach of the University of IOWA

Larissa Libby (left)

Larissa Libby, a Canadian by birth has been a prominent face of the Canadian gymnastics circuit. As a collegiate athlete, she played for the Louisiana State University and graduated from the university with a science degree in psychology.

As a gymnast, she won the junior national championships in gymnastics at the age of 11. Moreover, she was part of the Canadian World Championship-winning teams in 1987 and 1989 as well as the 1988 Olympics side.

Across her gymnastics career, she won more than 30 international medals and captained the Canadian national team to 18th position, its best-ever world ranking. Before joining as IOWA's head coach, Libby served a stint with her alma mater, LSU, as its assistant women's coach. LSU made four consecutive appearances at the NCAA Championships during her stint.

Ever since Libby took over as the head coach almost 20 years ago, the Hawkeyes have consistently represented in the NCAA regionals and also won their first-ever Big Ten regular season title in 2021.