There are times when words are unnecessary. One of them came on Thursday (14/1) during an Online Workshop, «Start to Talk - Speak Up, Don't Tolerate» on the sexual abuse of children in sport.
As reported by Sport24.gr, the testimony of the Olympic gold medalist in sailing, Sophia Bekatorou, was the one that made everyone freeze and highlighted the magnitude of the problem. The details of what she said:
«I never imagined that in sport I would face violence, let alone sexual violence. As a sailor, from a very young age, I traveled without my parents in the presence of my teammates and coach. I have been toughened up, I have learned to endure the pain, the harsh weather conditions and the loneliness of being a champion, but I have also learned to be independent, to face my problems with courage, to support my teammates and to fight for my values and ideals.
When I decided to set my sights on excelling in the Olympic Games and in particular the gold medal, I knew that I had to excel in all the areas that my sport requires, clearly. I had to break boundaries and performances that existed so that there was not even the possibility of close competition. For this reason, together with my teammate Emilia Tsoulfa and our coach Elias Mylonas, we designed a program with long training sessions, both on and off the water with the men's team, and participation in a large number of races, in order to gain the right experience. We were 100% committed to this goal. One major obstacle we always had to face, surprisingly, was our own federation. The climate of cooperation with the national authority was becoming increasingly stifling, when before each mission, we had to essentially negotiate the financial support we were entitled to receive. Officials of the federation, depending on their interests and sympathies, treated the athletes differently.
Having learned from an early age to express my opinion, to believe in justice and meritocracy, I found it difficult to develop a constructive relationship with the federation. I did not like the fact that we had to use political methods to get their support and that the people we spoke to had no expertise in our field, so they did not understand our problems or our needs. And it was clear that there was no strategic planning aimed at distinguishing the country in the long term. Fortunately, for eight years we had two people on our side who fought for our rights, the presidents of our clubs, Mr Pavlidis and Mr Karageorgiou.
When X appeared in some meetings as the new head of preparation of the national team and treated us cordially with friendliness and humour, Emilia and I were relieved. The communication established with our team and X was always in the context of preparing for the games, financial support from the federation and the purchase of equipment.
The usual stifling negotiation through X became a less psychologically damaging process for our goal, at least we thought so...In 1998 our country claimed qualification for the Sydney Olympics. In the same year we had our first two major international successes with Emilia Tsulfa winning bronze medals at the World and European Championships. In qualifying for the Olympics, although we did not usually have federation representatives at competitions with us, «someone» would come along as we were informed. After the latest developments, we hoped it would be X, who created a pleasant and supportive atmosphere that was important for achieving our goals.
Although we didn't manage to get a medal in the qualification, however, with the fifth place we and the men's team qualified for the Olympics. X was thrilled as was our team. We celebrated the qualification with dinner and then the six of us, two by two, returned to our hotel. X and I were the last to leave. On the way back to the hotel we talked about the games and the difficulties. For me it would be my first Olympic participation and as I was the youngest of the team (21), my joy was unspeakable. At one point as X and I were talking I turned around and he kissed me. I froze, I didn't know how to react, I never expected him to make such a move. To me X represented the father figure, he was a man who finally wasn't fighting us in the federation and wanted what was best for us, I thought. I continued to move along at a faster pace now, pretending not to understand that it had happened, although I mentioned it to him, telling him that I never expected such a move from him. Arriving at our hotel in the elevator before going to his room he asked me to follow him. I refused and went to close the door.
He always politely and with a smile asked me if I was afraid of him and then I replied that I wasn't, but that there was no reason for me to go to his room with him. He tried to convince me and assured me that he was not going to do anything erotic just to talk. But he knew how to talk to me and how to calm me down and get me to let my guard down. And when that happened, that's when he started to molest me. He tried to push him away, to show him that there was no mutual desire, assuming that he would respect that. I told him no, I reiterated that I didn't want to move on and he falsely sweet-talked me into saying it was nothing by making humor. He said he would stop if I didn't want him to, but he wouldn't stop no matter what I told him. Crying and ashamed I left the room when he finished and got up off me.
I returned to my room where my teammate was sleeping unsuspectingly. I showered, feeling dirty, exhausted, humiliated and unable to defend my rights. While I had just gained the right to dream with Emilia, if I talked about what happened to me, it might break down. I couldn't handle this feeling and I couldn't share it with my team because it might divide us. Our team which included the men's team was always on a fine balancing rope and there were no strong bonds that could get me to talk openly. And our coach was 25 years old, quite emotional and inexperienced in crisis management. We also didn't have any association with a sports psychologist at the time and of course I would never talk to my parents because they would stop me from sailing. In my small and innocent mind the only solution was to keep quiet and pretend nothing happened.
I cried a lot and when I woke up I started a show that ended up not long ago. With a lot of work, therapy and analysis I was able to take on the burden of my responsibility of not speaking up at the time to remove this factor from the sporting lands. This misanthrope who had no boundaries, took advantage of situations, my emotional ego and commitment to my goal. He took advantage of the weakness of our team, knowing that there was not much cohesion and strength, his institutional position , to satisfy his sick instinct . The only person I managed to open up to was that connection I had at the time, who I also asked not to react, as he was also an Athlete. X never expressed remorse or changed the way he operated.
With my change of attitude and my coldness he became ironic and generally questioned my abilities and performance at every possible opportunity saying that younger athletes should now have opportunities and not those whose careers are in their twilight years. He adopted this mentality from 1999 until 2019. During this time I have achieved the most distinctions for our country in sailing, but I have lost the most important asset as a personality: my self-love!»
