Canadian gymnast tells of sexual, emotional abuse by Olympic coach – By Eddie Pells (Associated Press) / May 26, 2022
A former member of the Canadian national gymnastics team wrote a public letter accusing the country’s 2016 Olympic coach of climbing into bed and pressing his body up against her, reaching his hand underneath her shirt and trying to talk her into exposing her breasts.
The letter by Abby Pearson Spadafora, 38, revealed the latest in a long series of allegations of sexual, emotional and physical abuse by coaches Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker, who have been banned by Gymnastics Canada.
“The abuse never stopped,” Spadafora wrote in her letter released Thursday. “My male coach would regularly snap the back of my sports bras when I started wearing them. I was taught that gaining weight and puberty were a bad thing. Injuries were rarely taken seriously, and I was taught to hide the pain.”
Spadafora said she started training 25-35 hours a week at age 7, and was weighed twice a day.
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