Gymnastics Ireland says it "would like to unreservedly apologise" to a young black girl and her family after she was excluded during a medal ceremony in March 2022.
A video circulating in recent days showed the girl, the only black competitor in the presentation line, being skipped as others received their medal.
The Sunday Independent reported that the girl's family believed she was ignored because she was black. The girl's mother also said that Gymnastics Ireland had failed to publicly apologise for the incident.
"On behalf of the Board and staff of Gymnastics Ireland we would like to unreservedly apologise to the gymnast and her family for the upset that has been caused by the incident at the GymStart event in March 2022," the organisation said in a statement.
"What happened on the day should not have happened and for that we are deeply sorry.
"We are also sorry that what has happened since that date has caused further upset.
"Please know that at all times we have been acting in good faith and with the best of intentions in trying to resolve this very difficult and sensitive matter. We offered an in-person apology after the incident as we believed this was the best approach. Subsequently we felt mediation was the best way forward.
"We know now we need to do more. We are committed to ensuring nothing like this will happen again. We appointed an independent expert to review our policies and procedures earlier this year and a series of recommendations have resulted which we are fully committed to implementing so that this does not ever happen again.
"We would also like to engage with the gymnast's family and Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) to listen to any suggestions they have as to how our procedures can be improved in this regard.
"We are happy to see that the gymnast continues to participate in Gymnastics Ireland events and we look forward to welcoming her back to our future events also.
"Finally, we would like to make it absolutely clear that Gymnastics Ireland condemns any form of racism whatsoever."
