This likely was not the way decorated gymnast Kara Eaker envisioned her career ending.
A two-time gold medalist at the world championships and an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, she announced late last week on Instagram that she was retiring and withdrawing from the University of Utah because of alleged non-physical abuse by a Red Rocks coach.
“For two years, while training with the Utah Gymnastics Team, I was a victim of verbal and emotional abuse,” she wrote in a seven-page post. “As a result, my physical, mental and emotional health has rapidly declined. I had been seeing a university athletics psychologist for a year and a half and I’m now seeing a new provider twice a week because of suicidal and self-harm ideation and being unable to care for myself properly. I have recently been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression, anxiety induced insomnia, and I suffer from panic attacks, PTSD and night terrors. …
“I was training in an unhealthy, unsafe and toxic environment,” she continued. “I have now reached a turning point and I’m speaking out for all of 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.”
Eaker’s stance is important because it can help to redefine the meaning of strength. Elite athletes are often told that fighting through adversity is a trait of fortitude and power. They’re told that any acknowledgment of vulnerability is a display of weakness. That thinking is as dangerous as it is outdated because too often it has resulted in athletes remaining silent, only to experience regret, shame, embarrassment, or, worse, death by suicide years later for not speaking out in the moment.
“I’ve learned that verbal and emotional abuse is difficult to identify, especially when they are covert and passive-aggressive,” Eaker posted. “The abuse often happened in individual coach-athlete meetings. I would be isolated in an office with an overpowering coach, door closed, sitting quietly, hardly able to speak because of condescending, sarcastic and manipulative tactics. The cruelty was compounded because I thought I’d be safe, both mentally and physically, at the University of Utah, but instead I was personally attacked, humiliated, degraded and yelled at to the point of tears in front of the whole team.”
Although the university and Tom Farden, the Red Rocks’ lone head coach since 2020, have yet to respond to requests for comment, it is notable that Farden was investigated twice in the last four years for alleged abusive behavior. In August, the university hired an outside law firm to review the claims of a handful of former gymnasts, their parents and program staffers who accused him of verbally and emotionally abusing team members, as well as physically intimidating them.
The three-week probe concluded that Farden could have demonstrated greater empathy, discipline and professionalism, but found no “severe, pervasive or egregious acts of emotional or verbal abuse,” nor did it find “any acts of physical abuse, emotional abuse or harassment” as defined by NCAA regulations and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, an independent nonprofit that promotes a sports environment free of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and misconduct.
The investigation did, however, conclude that Farden “made a derogatory comment to a student-athlete that if she was not at the University she would be a ‘nobody working at a gas station’ in her hometown” and “a few student-athletes alleged that Coach Farden made comments to student-athletes that, if corroborated, would have likely resulted in a finding that they violated the Athletics’ Well Being Policy’s prohibition on degrading language. (But) the comments as alleged were isolated occurrences that could not be independently corroborated and were denied by Coach Farden.”
Farden is 60 and grew up in an era when coaches at the highest levels tended to go unchallenged and profane or degrading language was tolerated, if not accepted. Today’s focus on mental health and professional accountability has shifted the paradigm in a way that redefines what it means to coach someone hard. Coaches are being forced to change with the times. Those who don’t, however pure their intentions, are likely to find themselves at the center of an investigation or unemployed. Harsh, yes. But also true.
By standing in her truth, Eaker is giving a voice to not only those who are afraid to speak out, but also those who feel their concerns are being dismissed. She should be applauded because it takes courage to stand against a prominent coach and the largest and oldest institution of higher education in the state.
“I believe in the power of truth and the need for safety, and I want to be part of the solution,” Eaker posted. “I want to stop the cycle of abuse and the men who threaten girls and women in all sports, and I want to help girls and women find their voices, because together we can make a difference. I hope my voice will help you to recognize the early warning signs of abuse in order to get help and report it. There is strength in numbers as more of us come forward.”
Eaker may not have ended her career the way she wanted, but by speaking out and showing others that it’s OK to protect their mental and physical health, she now has an opportunity to make as big an impact out of the sport as she did in it.
— Jim Trotter is a national sports columnist based out of San Diego. This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
