"I was raped at 15 years old." Sarah Abitbol, ​​a former medalist with multiple medals, spoke to L'Obs on Wednesday, January 29, on the eve of the release of her testimony book "Un si long silence" published by Plon.

Like Sarah Abitbol, ​​they are several former high-level French skaters to blame with open faces, in the daily L'Équipe and the magazine L'Obs, their trainer of rape and sexual assault between the end of the 1970s and the years 1990.

The coaches implicated deny the facts or have not responded to both media.

Under "sexual influence"

Ten-time French champion, European multi-medalist and third at the world couple championships in 2000, Sarah Abitbol accuses her former trainer, Gilles Beyer, of sexual assault and rape between 1990 and 1992, when she was 15 to 17 years old .

"He started doing horrible things, until sexual abuse and I was raped when I was 15. It was the first time that a man touched me," she says.

For her part, Hélène Godard claims that the same Gilles Beyer, champion of France 1978, then eight years older, abused her in the late 1970s, when she was only 13 years old.

At 15, and for two years, Hélène Godard fell under the sexual "grip" of Jean-Roland Racle, seven-time champion of France, who hosted him at his home in Nogent-sur-Marne.

Unsuccessful investigations

Two other skaters, Anne Bruneteaux and Béatrice Dumur, also accuse Michel Lotz, vice-champion of France 1978 and 1979, of having abused them in the 1980s, while he was hosting the two young girls aged 13 when he was a trainer at the club of Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine).

According to L'quipe, Gilles Beyer, who has continued his career as director of the French teams and national coach, was the subject of an investigation by the Créteil public prosecutor's office in the early 2000s. .

Another investigation, this time within the Ministry of Sports, led to the withdrawal of his duties as a sports technical advisor on March 31, 2001.

Gilles Beyer then continued his career at the French Volants and was a member of the executive office of the French Ice Sports Federation.

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Download the app

google-play-badge_FR