When former Olympic champion Sofia Bekatorou revealed she had been sexually assaulted by an unnamed Hellenic Sailing Federation (HSF) executive, few realised her powerful testimony would prompt a #Metoo movement in Greek sport.
She was addressing a little-advertised online conference after all.
But when the sailing federation hit back at her allegations the following day, the whole story exploded. It said it had never received any complaint from Bekatorou and essentially asked her to name the man, since she had “taken the initiative to speak about this unpleasant incident after so many years”.
Inspired by Sofia Bekatorou’s courage and angered by the federation’s cynicism, more athletes began going public with experiences of sexual harassment and abuse using the hashtag #metisofia (on Sofia’s side). Now the Greek president has praised the former champion for ending a “conspiracy of silence” and the government says her story has shaken not just sport but society as a whole.
Bekatorou was 21 when she went abroad with the rest of the Greek sailing team in 1998 to compete in qualifying trials for the Sydney Olympics. The team was joined by a sailing federation executive who celebrated their qualification with them.
Now 43 and a mother of two children, she told the online conference she had been subjected to “sexual harassment and abuse” in the official’s hotel room. The transcript of her speech circulated online.
Bekatorou went on to win two Olympic medals and several world championship golds and was given the honour of carrying the Greek flag at the Rio Olympics in 2016. But she also maintains that the official became an obstacle to her career.
Her decision to stay silent so she could keep on sailing took its toll. It took “years with a lot of work and therapy”, she said, before she could take responsibility for not speaking out and seeking the man’s removal.
Aristeidis Adamopoulos has now stepped down as vice president of the Hellenic Sailing Federation. He has denied any wrongdoing and says he resigned to protect the federation and the Greek Olympic Committee from negative publicity.
Lefteris Avgenakis, the deputy culture and sports minister, praised the broad spectrum of support for Sofia Bekatorou and said the government had since put an end to the “sickness” of having lifetime executives in charge of Greek sport. (BBC Sport)
