Dublin’s Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena was abuzz with excitement as several hundred girls, boys, and spectators gathered for Gymnastic Ireland’s GymStart competition in early March 2022. The organization put major effort into ensuring that the day would live long in the memories of all those present.
An official video from the event shows a multiracial cast of children giddily competing. A second video from that day shows an official of Gymnastics Ireland placing participation medals around the neck of every participant in a mass award ceremony.
Throughout the video, the official seems distracted as she hands out the medals. She glances at colleagues across the arena, communicates with someone over her left shoulder, tries not to get in the way of an eager photographer, and struggles to untangle the medals as she hands them out. She doesn’t have enough and has to run out of the shot to the right to get more. In the fuss, she forgets to place a medal around the neck of one girl who stands there awkwardly and upset thinking she might not get one.
It is a scene familiar and heartbreaking to parents whose kids do sports — things like this happen all the time. This time, however, the young gymnast happened to be black. And this time, Simone Biles and the grievance-hungry non-governmental organization (NGO) scene sensed an opportunity for profit.
On Sept. 22, 2023, the second video was posted on X by Mohamad Safa, the CEO of Patriotic Vision, a UN-accredited
