Paris (AFP)
"Shame turns into pride", welcomed Friday Sarah Abitbol, who received a standing ovation at the National Convention on Sexual Violence in Sport organized in Paris, three weeks after the publication of her book, point de start of a wave of revelations of abuse in French sport.
"Thanks to the freedom of speech in my book (" Un si long silence ", Plon), shame turns into pride, and this is the greatest victory, my Olympic gold medal," said with emotion the former skater, triggering a standing ovation of almost a minute in the hall of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) hosting the rally.
"This image will remain forever engraved in my memory," reacted a few minutes later Abitbol, still moved.
"The awareness of society is great," she said. "It is time to put the functioning of our federations and clubs in order to protect children."
Sarah Abitbol was speaking within the framework of the Convention for the prevention of sexual violence in sport, organized on the initiative of the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu. Several hundred representatives of the sports movement, including presidents of Olympic federations, and of the voluntary sector, as well as several members of the government, participate.
In her book published at the end of January, the former champion accuses her ex-trainer Gilles Beyer of having raped her when she was between 15 and 17 years old, in the early 1990s. Since then, other testimonies have surfaced, in the figure skating but also in other disciplines, football, horse riding, climbing, skiing or even athletics.
Sarah Abitbol also announced her intention to create an association intended to "help" victims of sexual violence, by facilitating the collection of their testimonies.
"Speaking helps to find solutions," she insisted.
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