Penn State Women’s Gymnastics team coach fired amidst allegations of emotional abuse
This isn’t the first we’ve heard of bullying rumors
The head coach of the Penn State women’s gymnastics team, Jeff Thompson, has been fired, effective immediately.
Thompson’s history as head coach is rife with accusations of mistreating his athletes, so much so that many were pushed to quit the team. The coaches would reprimand athletes for posting photos from a night out with friends or even tweeting too late. They pried into their personal lives and made inappropriate comments about their bodies. At one point, Rachelle Thompson even threatened one of the girls that she would take away her scholarship if she didn’t end her relationship with her boyfriend.
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Story after story has been published regarding the emotional abuse these girls underwent while the Thompsons served as coaches. It’s no surprise, then, that Jeff Thompson has finally been fired. Thompson’s wife resigned last year, and assistant coach Samantha Brown also resigned January 2016, as she was concerned for the girls. According to Penn Live, Brown said “she has petitioned for Penn State to authorize an independent investigation and said she chose not to accept an offer from the school to recoup her full year’s pay if she not speak publicly about her experiences with the program.”
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Assistant coaches, Kera Molinaro and Josh Wilson, will serve as head coaches until a new head coach is hired. The university is actively looking for a replacement and made no further comment on the matter.