The double Australian Olympic swimming medalist Maddie Groves slammed the door of the selection for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, denouncing the presence in the sport of “misogynistic perverts”.
The 26-year-old, a silver medalist in the 200-meter butterfly and 4x100m relay at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, shared her shocking decision on Instagram late Thursday, as the selection process for the The July Olympics are due to start on Saturday in the city of Adelaide.
“May this be a lesson for all misogynistic perverts in sports and those who lick their boots,” she wrote in her post.
“You can no longer exploit young women and girls, shame their bodies or fear for their health and then expect them to represent you so that you can earn your annual bonus. It’s over ! »She indignantly.
The swimmer does not give any indication of the identity of the persons concerned. She complained last November on Twitter of a “person working in swimming who makes me feel uncomfortable by the way he stares at me in my clothes”.
A few days later she denounced a “sinister comment” made by an unidentified coach, who later quickly apologized, “perhaps because the team psychologist had told her to do so”.
The chairman of the governing body of swimming in the country Swimming Australia, Kieren Perkins, for his part regretted that the swimmer did not file a formal complaint.
“The reality is that all we know is what is on social media, she has not contacted Swimming Australia at any point, we have not been able to speak to her directly and talk about her concerns to understand this it’s happening, ”he told Channel Nine on Friday.
“Unfortunately, social media posts do not represent an admissible complaint for us. We have to sit down with the people and talk about it, ”he added.
“We would really like to do that and we wish Maddie would come and talk with us if she thinks she can do it,” he continued.
Despite her withdrawal, Maddie Groves says she does not intend to end her career, saying she looks forward to “participating in other competitions later this year”.
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