A former member of the Canadian gymnastics team has written an open letter in which she accuses the coach of the Canadian team who participated in the Rio Olympics in 2016 of climbing into her bed and pressed against her, before passing her hand under her sweater and asking her to show her her breasts.
Posted at 10:16 a.m.
The letter from 38-year-old Abby Pearson Spadafora is part of a long string of allegations of sexual, psychological and physical abuse against coaches Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker, who have been disciplined by Gymnastics Canada.
“The assaults never stopped,” Spadafora said in a letter published Thursday. My trainer regularly undid my sports bra when I started wearing one. I was taught that weight gain and puberty were bad. Injuries were rarely taken seriously, and I was taught to hide the pain. »
Spadafora said she trained 25 to 35 hours a week from the age of seven, and was weighed twice a day.
“That’s when things got out of hand, and the assaults started,” she said of her experience, which began in 1991.
A group of 11 gymnasts, including Spadafora, have publicly denounced the assaults at the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in Ontario.
They participated in the Gymnastics Canada investigation that led to the sanctions against the Brubaker couple. Spadafora and other athletes, however, have criticized the work of the investigators, as they allege that they once again experienced trauma when they were asked to be quiet in order to avoid their statements being turned against her in as part of any legal process.
About 480 athletes have signed a petition calling on the Canadian government to order an independent investigation into the assaults that took place at the club.
Dave Brubaker, who led the Canadian gymnastics team at the Rio Olympics in 2016, was found not guilty of sexual assault and sexual exploitation in 2019, after the judge assigned to the case involving an ex-gymnast revealed that the police officer responsible for investigating Brubaker was a member of the alleged victim’s family.
Photo taken from Dave Brubaker’s facebook page
Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker
His lifetime suspension from Gymnastics Canada, and that of his wife which will expire on January 18, 2024, was announced earlier this year, after a disciplinary committee confirmed 54 cases of misconduct involving the Brubaker couple. He initially challenged the sanctions, before withdrawing his appeal in March.
The lawyer who represented the Brubaker couple in the sexual assault case, Patrick Ducharme, did not immediately respond to an email sent by The Associated Press.