She immediately turned off her radio.
This Friday, January 8, Sarah Abitbol gets into her car.
Bryan Adams' voice and his “Everything I do, I do it for you” rises in the cabin when the ignition is on.
“This song was very popular when I was being raped,” she describes.
I had a flash when I heard it.
I am still unable to listen to it.
The same day, the former skater learned of the indictment of her ex-trainer, Gilles Beyer.
A year ago, in her book "Un si long silence" (Ed. Plon), the world medalist as a couple in 2000 accuses Gilles Beyer, renamed "Mr. O" for "junk", of having raped her during his adolescence. .
A moving testimony, at the origin of the resignation of the president of the French federation of ice sports, Didier Gailhaguet, and of a wave of liberation of the word in the medium of the sport.
"I lived in shame and guilt"
“I don't regret anything, quite the contrary,” she smiles from her house in Miami.
I am proud to have been at the origin of this media tidal wave.
I lived in shame and guilt.
Today I wake up with a smile.
I am happy, I found my humor.
I am the real Sarah now.
Even on the ice, I skate free.
Before, I felt like I was hiding behind a character.
Even if I don't forget anything, I live with it.
"
In Florida, Sarah Abitbol divides her life between her skating rink, where she trains small groups, and her computer, where she spends hours interacting with victims of sexual violence and specialized associations.
At the same time, the ex-sportswoman is working on a television documentary "of which my story is the common thread".
PODCAST. Sexual violence in sport: why Sarah Abitbol breaks the silence
Exhausted after her media tour at the beginning of the year which had led her to meet Brigitte Macron, Abitbol had a hard time living the transition from an overflow of requests to total rest imposed by the health crisis.
Today, Stéphane Bernadis' ex-partner claims to have found his rhythm, even if the Covid-19 has disrupted his gala plans.
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And the world of ice cream?
Sarah Abitbol pauses.
And look for his words.
“The federation has implemented a lot of actions to fight against sexual violence, in particular by working with a specialized association
(Editor's note: Colossus with feet of clay), she
underlines.
Now I thought that a synergy could have taken place between us.
I proposed a lot of things, everything was refused.
When we want to work with someone, we make sure that it is possible.
I don't feel especially wanted.
Now it takes time.
Maybe the FFSG wants to turn the page ... "
Sarah Abitbol at a charity party for the "Holiday on Ice" show, 2005.LP
According to our information, the president of the federation, Nathalie Péchalat, wrote a letter to Sarah Abitbol to try to calm relations.
The latter, who made a series of proposals by email, did not apply to join the body's ethics committee.
“I think they are the ones who should want to work with me and thank me for speaking up.
There is the world upside down.
I was sent a message with a link to apply for a position.
"
Contacted, the FFSG points to a "misunderstanding" with the person concerned, explains having simply listed the job opportunities to her and that the health crisis made her gala wishes impossible for the moment.
"I wanted to save children, and they prevent me from skating"
This fall, Sarah Abitbol returned to Ile-de-France.
And wanted to take advantage of his presence to train at the Accor Arena, the ice rink of his French Volants club.
“I was denied access to the ice,” she blows.
There are all unimaginable reasons for me, but people within this club, who have remained close to Mr. O, are preventing my coming.
I wanted to save children, and they prevent me from skating.
The president of the Flying French, Pierre Thauron, explains this refusal by the impossibility of granting a training slot during the second confinement to a person who does not benefit from a high-level athlete exemption.
Sarah Abitbol blows: “There is the health crisis, but she has a good back.
"
She evokes her fights for the imprescriptibility of sex crimes and to push back the threshold of non-consent to 15 years instead of 13. “We must continue to fight, to speak.
When I saw Camille Kouchner evoke incest in her book, I told myself that it was yet another milestone.
The more people talk about it, the more people will do it.
Me, I am happy with what I caused.
And I will continue my actions with my fighting sisters.
"
