SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah gymnast Kara Eaker announced Friday that she is leaving the Red Rocks team and withdrawing from school due to "verbal and emotional abuse" allegedly suffered during training.
The 2-time All-American posted her decision to Instagram, adding that she has recently been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression while suffering from panic attacks, PTSD and night terrors.
"During my recruiting 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," wrote Eaker. "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."
Eaker, who was a junior at the school, went on to say that she has reached a turning point and is speaking out "for all the women who can't because they are mentally debilitated and paralyzed by fear."
Eaker claimed the abuse she received would happen in individual meetings with a coach when she would be isolated in an office.
"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," she said.
Earlier this year, the University of Utah gymnastics program and head coach Tom Farden were investigated after claims arose of emotional abuse and physical intimidation. The review later found that Farden did not engage in any severe, pervasive or egregious acts of emotional, verbal or physical abuse or harassment.
The investigation found that some athletes did have negative experiences on the team and that Farden had made a derogatory comment to an athlete, telling her "that if she was not at the University she would be a 'nobody working at a gas station' in her hometown."
Following the report's release, the school's athletics department said it would work with Farden on properly communicating with athletes in his program.
Eaker wrote that she wants to be part of the solution in regard to the alleged abuse on the team and in sports overall.
"I want to stop the cycle of abuse and the men who threaten girls and women in all sports," she wrote. "And I want to help girls and women find their voices, because together we can make a difference."
FOX 13 News has reached out the University of Utah about the new allegations but have yet to hear a response.
