For over forty years, Catherine Gonseth had disappeared from the French Alpine landscape. She was a young and promising skier until, in 1980 at 19, she suddenly disappeared. Without anyone really knowing why. Today, almost everyone in skiing has understood. Cathy, as those who have skied with her and who have had little news of her since call her, said in a Facebook post on February 7 that she had been sexually assaulted by her coach. time. She was then a minor.
A short text, powerful like a cry retained for too long which ends thus: "My coach is my persecutor until the day when I decide to leave the French ski team for a better future. I know I am not the only one of his victims and if I send this message, it is also for them, so that we do something against him! I'm waiting for contacts. "
Catherine Gonseth, 60 years old today, was not long in hearing news. In particular Claudine Emonet, a few years younger, and who has since said that she too was the victim of this coach of the French teams now retired and whom they cannot name without risking prosecution for defamation.
When we reached her last Sunday, Catherine Gonseth was hesitant to speak publicly. But for her and for all the other victims of this predator, she agreed to speak.
Why speak now?
CATHERINE GONSETH. The goal is to make a difference. No young person supervised by an educator should be ashamed or afraid of such facts, which was the case in my time. The silence in which the victims take refuge is a form of injustice. Currently, there is a deep awareness to change behavior, it starts with "Me Too" in the cinema, more generally the fight against violence against women, and now in sport with in particular the testimony of the old skater Sarah Abitbol, which makes speaking less difficult. Now it is possible.
So you decided to write ...
My post a few days ago was spontaneous. After the story of Sarah Abitbol. After the strong words of Jean-Claude Killy (to denounce the scourge of sexual violence in sport) in stride in Lyon, I said to myself: it is very good that he speaks, but as a victim, I have to speak . So I wrote this first word. Strong, powerful, brutal. Without spilling me. Because the details (of the assault) are not the point; the main thing is the act. I had an overflow that gave me the strength to act with determination, without the gimmick.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
Did writing help you?
Once I put my post online, I felt like I had done well, finally! There was a release. I felt full of energy I hoped that following my message, Claudine (Emonet) would contact me. I knew she had been a victim. I also wrote to touch her, so that she would contact me. So that we support each other. Not being alone is so important. We reconnected. She has spoken since. Even if what we are experiencing is difficult, I am sure it will be positive. I certainly do not regret having spoken. It wakes up a lot of things, it launches me into a form of combat. But maybe I am ready to commit myself to a cause that seems right to me.
Have you never spoken of these attacks before?
Loosely to relatives, yes. In a private circle. These are things that we are trying to bury. I am 60 years old, and the facts took place more than 40 years ago. It's not just in skating that things happen. I had to say it. Today, he can no longer harm him as part of his coaching activity because he is enjoying his retirement. He risks nothing since the facts are prescribed. But I would like people to know who he is, what he did. It is insane that the aggressor can be quiet like that. Abusers must be held accountable for their actions and their actions.
Do you think this trainer has caused other victims?
I am convinced that there are more than two of us. There are other victims. For some, it will probably be difficult to speak. By their activity, their social position. They probably won't want to stir it all up. It can take time.
You left the French team in 1980, but this coach probably stayed at his post and therefore in contact with skiers ...
I do not know precisely the course of this gentleman ( she sometimes calls him the trainer, sometimes my trainer ). I just know that soon after I left Fed, he became a boy coach. This challenged me. I asked myself the question whether, in high places ( at the Federation ), some were not more or less aware. Anyway, he was never bothered for his actions. He could potentially do a lot of harm to sensitive souls, to young people, by taking advantage of his position as a somewhat guru coach. It is each time a physical and moral betrayal.
Have you tried to alert? To send messages, especially to your family?
At the family, I couldn't talk about it. Absolutely not. We are in total control. With the trainer, you form a real pair. The relationship is excessively strong. We are so young. And I was so shocked by what he made me endure. I had the impression of a total duality between what I lived in the sports sphere and the rest. The rest, what he did to me, seemed unreal. I denied it myself. The first time, I thought it was a dream, or rather a nightmare. To the point that, at the time, I had told it to a comrade on the team and I was not believed. Because myself, I was in denial and shock. I stated it this way: I dreamed it .
How did he act?
He managed to be alone with his victims. He was in an isolation process. He was making the return trip ( from competitions or training ) alone with a victim. There were no witnesses. It was done in enough detail to not alert anyone.
The attacks spread over a long period?
I find it very difficult to answer you. It moves so much. Everything is shaking up in my memory. What I can say is that I left the French team at 19, in 1980, that I had been there since 1974. That it started when I was a minor and that there has not been only once. This man betrayed the trust I was supposed to have in a coach. The consequences of these assaults are carried all your life, especially on moral development. It marks you.
Nobody noticed anything about these acts? Never knew anything?
I think that, in the community, since then, some have spoken. Among the coaches of the time, I think that some suspected. I'm sure of it, even.
It is because of these attacks that you left the France team?
I abruptly left the France team for a number of reasons. But what happened to me strikes a terrible career. It totally changes the relationship with the coach, the teammates, the hierarchy. I left the middle to turn the page. But today I feel a certain guilt for not having spoken. I might have avoided other attacks. I was 16 years old, I was undoubtedly one of its first victims, perhaps the first.
Do you regret not having filed a complaint?
If I was 16 years old today and the same thing happened to me, I think that I would not hesitate a second to denounce, and to file a complaint. But at the time, the environment was not at all the same. We didn't talk about that at all. In my head, it was shameful. We are in self-contempt, disgust. It is only today that I feel capable of doing it. It took me a long time. I had to do something useful by stirring it all up. To be silent is not the solution.
What do you expect from the rest?
That the facts be heard, recognized and that I have the support of the Federation if necessary. Today it is important, the ski community must assume that, yes, there have been and there may still be problems just like in the other federations. We must stop saying nothing so as not to tarnish the image of our sport. The victims have a name, the attackers must have one too. Acts and legal texts are needed which must be modified, in particular on prescription or defamation. The injustice is in silence because who does not say a word consents.
What do you think should be put in place?
There must be total control of the supervisors. Means of immediate repression when a child reports. Let him not be afraid. Neither for him nor for his career. Fear must change sides. If I had spoken at the time, I would not have been taken seriously. You would have doubted my word. And I would probably have been the victim of a reprimand ( from the coach ).
Do you think there are more recent victims?
There is no guarantee that things have not happened since then. That it did not happen again. The facts that we denounce with Claudine ( Emonet ) took place at the end of the 70's, beginning of the 80's, they are time-barred. But perhaps other young people have suffered assaults which are not subject to prescription. I tell them: don't be afraid. Go on, go on! Let's break the omerta in skiing, in sport . It has to explode.
