Don Foster: "Let Bath based gymnastics team compete at London Olympics"

In a letter to British Olympic Association honorary chairman Lord Colin Moynihan, Bath MP Don Foster has thrown his support behind Great Britain’s rhythmic gymnastics team’s bid to compete at the London 2012 Olympics.

The team, who train at the University of Bath failed to meet an arbitrary qualifying standard set by the sport’s UK governing body at a London Prepares test event. The team missed out on their target of 45.223 points by just half a per cent.

Don has written to Lord Moynihan urging him to reverse this “mean spirited” decision. The full letter can be read here:

24 January 2024

Dear Lord Moynihan

I should like to draw your attention to the recent decision to not send the Bath-based British rhythmic gymnastics team to compete at the London 2012 Olympics (I should note that I am writing in my capacity as their constituency MP, rather than as a member of the Olympic Board).

The decision comes from British Gymnastics and the British Olympic Authority, who agreed that in order to ensure the team was competing at a high enough standard to represent the nation, they would need to achieve a score of 45.223 over two routines at the London Test Event. This benchmark is 82% of the winning 2011 World Championship score.

The girls scored 44.950 over two routines on Monday and Tuesday, and 47.200 over two routines at Wednesday’s final.

Despite exceeding the benchmark by 2 points on the Wednesday, British Gymnastics has announced that a rhythmic gymnastics group will not be nominated for inclusion into Team GB for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

This decision is extremely mean spirited. The girls have demonstrated that they are capable of performing to the required standard, but because British Gymnastics is looking at a result from one day rather than another, they are being denied the opportunity of a lifetime.

I have seen the team in training at Bath University and was amazed by their commitment and dedication to their sport. They train six days a week and have their suspended A-Level courses to do so. They are also entirely self-funded; in some cases by their parents who have remortgaged their homes all so their daughters could show the world what they can do.

I’m sure you agree that the decision to not send the team to the Olympics over two tenths of a percent, when the benchmark was itself entirely arbitrary, is unfair and a needless waste of the talent that the Games are supposed to nurture and encourage.

In my view, this decision is completely contrary to the Olympic ideals. I would be grateful if you could look into this matter and seek to overturn this ruling so that the team, who have committed so much time, energy and money, are able to compete.

Kind regards,

Don Foster

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Bath
Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Culture, Media, and Sport Committee