Maddie Groves made a huge decision this week. The Olympic silver medalist announced on social media Thursday that she is withdrawing from Australia’s swimming trials for the Tokyo Games because of “misogynistic perverts.”
“Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers,” Groves said on Twitter Wednesday.
“You can no longer exploit young women and girls, body shame or medically gaslight them and then expect them to represent you so you can earn your annual bonus.”
“Time’s UP.”
“I’m so grateful to feel so supported in this decision. I feel very relieved and I’m looking forward to racing at some other competitions later in the year,” she initially wrote in the caption of her post.
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The 26-year-old — who finished second in the 200m butterfly and 4×100 medley at the 2016 Games — has spoken out about this issue in the past when she tweeted in November about a complaint she filed years ago about a man in her sport who made her feel uncomfortable by the way he stared at her in her swimsuit.
The governing body said they had reached out to Graves following those comments but that she “declined to provide further information” regarding the incident.
“All allegations concerning child abuse or sexual misconduct are taken seriously by Swimming Australia,” the statement read. “We consider the welfare, safety and well-being of children and young people as paramount, and we have a duty to make inquiries to uphold the standards of our sport.”
