Who is Kara Eaker? World champion gymnast from University of Utah retires over alleged 'verbal and emotional abuse’ from coach
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Kara Eaker, a two-time gold medalist at the World Championships and a member of the University of Utah women’s gymnastics team, announced her retirement from the sport and withdrawal from the school on October 20.
She cited “verbal and emotional abuse” from head coach Tom Farden as the reason for her decision, adding that the athletic department “completely dismissed” her attempts to report it.
The 2020 Olympics alternate also revealed that she was recently diagnosed with "severe anxiety and depression," while suffering from "panic attacks, PTSD, and night terrors." She was even driven to the point of contemplating suicide and self-harm.
Kara Eaker announced her retirement on Instagram
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"Today I'm announcing my retirement from the University of Utah gymnastics team, the sport of gymnastics, and my withdrawal as a student at the University of Utah," began Eaker.
“I accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Utah because I truly believed the school was a place where I could contribute to the community, be a strong asset to the gymnastics team, and be free to develop myself and future career,” she wrote.
“For two years, while training with the Utah Gymnastics team, I was a victim of verbal and emotional abuse," Eaker alleged. "As a result, my physical, mental and emotional health has rapidly declined."
Eaker lamented that during the recruitment process, "I was promised a ‘family’ within this program and a ‘sisterhood’ with my teammates, who would accept me, care for me, and support me. But instead, after I entered as a freshman, I was heartbroken to find the opposite in that I was training in an unhealthy, unsafe, and toxic environment.”
Instead of constructive criticism, she stated that she was ridiculed “to the point of tears in front of the whole team.”
“I was scared to death by the loud and angry outbursts from the coach, ‘What the hell is wrong with you!’ What the f**k are you doing!’ ‘You better get your s**t together!’ and ‘Pull your head out of your ass!’ The words are so intense and hurtful that it feels like a knife that’s stabbed so deep in my body that there’s no way to pull it out,” Eaker revealed.
Claiming that texts from the coach gave her a panic attack, Eaker said she is speaking out “for all the women who can’t because they are mentally debilitated and paralyzed by fear.”
“I, too, find myself frozen in moments when fear takes over. But I can no longer stand by while perpetrators are still allowed in sports and are causing young girls and women to suffer," she added.
Internal investigation found Tom Farden a 'caring, passionate coach'
According to an investigation the university conducted, Farden “did not engage in any severe, pervasive or egregious acts of emotional or verbal abuse of student-athletes,” nor did he “engage in any acts of physical abuse, emotional abuse or harassment.” However, he did make “personally degrading comments,” reported the New York Post.
“Despite these findings, we note that a majority of student-athletes interviewed, two-thirds of the student-athletes who participated on the 2022-23 Women’s Gymnastics Team, and all but one current or former staff member affiliated with the Women’s Gymnastics Program described Coach Farden as a caring, passionate coach and did not report any concerns related to the treatment of student-athletes,” the investigation report stated.
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Eaker has hit back, calling the investigation report “incomplete at best,” and questioning its credibility because it “omits crucial evidence and information.”
