A former athlete of the Greek national gymnastics teams revealed she was sexually abused by her coach at the age of 14. “Everyone knew that the head coach of the National gymnastics team sexually harassed his athletes every day,” she said in an interview on Mega TV.
“At the age of 14, he started stretching his arms around my body. He hugged me tightly, he tried to kiss me on the mouth “… Maria Papakou, the former athlete of the national gymnastics team of Greece recounted after years of her tragic experience providing unsettling details about her trauma.
“All the coaches could see it. Nobody said a word to him, to put a limit on him,” she remembers. “After a long time, I happened to meet my old female coach and she asked me: ‘So, did this man push you because we all wondered’. You all knew this whole time and no one said anything; He commented on my buttocks and the beautiful way my breasts were growing – “Maria, only I, you and God will know what is happening. He put his hand on my genitals, tried to undress me, grabbed my hand and tried to put it through his underwear. I started shouting, I panicked “, Maria Papakou told Mega TV in the interview on Mega TV.
“It happened to many girls in the National Team. And I thought it was just me. Everyone knew it and no one did anything. Everyone knew that the head coach of the National team of gymnastics systematically abused and sexually harassed his female athletes, little girls 11, 12 years old. But not one of them did anything to save them from his hands.”
“During a trip, he knocked on the door of the room and a fellow athlete opened. I was not afraid of him because we were a lot of girls together and I thought he would not do anything to me. But he told everyone to leave the room that he wanted to be alone with Maria (me) and they left and we were alone. I could not feel my legs, my heart started beating, it was beating so fast as if it was going to burst; I could not react, I thought I was finished; I was voiceless”, she said in a state of shock.
“He kissed me everywhere, he put his hand on my genitals, he tried to undress me, he grabbed my hand and tried to place it through his underwear. I started shouting, I panicked, I did not know how to react, my body was shaking inside. He told me not to shout, because they should not hear us ‘I love you, It’s me, you know how much I love you, do not be afraid, I want to show you love’ he told me. All my energy was drained, I started crying and that is where it finally stopped. He may have reached his goal. ‘It does not matter, we may have missed the opportunity today, but we will have another day,’ he told me.”
The public prosecutor’s investigation, which has started 8 months ago, for the gymnastics athletes allegations had publicly alleged, is ongoing to this day.
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