‘I’ll never be able to outrun the demons in my mind’: Team GB Olympic medal winner Anyika Onuora, 37, reveals she was racially abused and sexually assaulted while representing UK – fighting off male athlete who broke door down and pinned her to bed
- Sprint track and field athlete Anyika Onuora claims she was sexually assaulted
- And in new book also racially abused while being on Team GB during big races
- Athlete got medals in World Championship, European Championships, Olympics
British Olympic medal winner Anyika Onuora has revealed she was racially abused and sexual assaulted while competing for Team GB.
The 37-year-old who won World Championship, European Championships, and Olympic medals has detailed the experiences that have ‘haunted’ her in a new book, My Hidden Race.
In the Mirror, she recalls a male ‘drunk’ athlete who first grabbed her waist ‘strongly’ while she was competing abroad before he followed her back to her room and forced the door open at 3am.
He pinned her to the bed, took her underwear off and she sprang into action kicking him in the groin, she alleges.
She said: ‘I told myself, ‘Just keep fighting with everything, Anyika. Fight him. Fight.”
In another incident a physio sexually assaulted her, pushing his groin onto her while giving her a massage,
Anyika Onuora, 37, (pictured with Emily Diamond winning gold at European Athletics Championships) who won World Championship, European Championships, and Olympic medals has claimed she was racially abused and sexual assaulted while competing for Team GB
She said: ‘I have experienced things as a British athlete that haunt me during the day and the night. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to outrun the demons in my mind.
‘I have been brutally sexually assaulted, experienced frequent racial abuse and attempted suicide twice. All while competing for my country.’
Onuora, whose parents moved to the UK from Nigeria, also recalls growing up in Liverpool.
She says in the Dingle suburb she was called a racial slur, spat on, bricks were thrown at her house, she was burgled and attacked by a gang every week and their car was destroyed in arson until she moved to Wavertree.
Anyika Onuora of Britain (pictured) runs next to Eleni Artymata of Cyprus in their women’s 200 meters heat during the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow
There she developed her love of track at school which propelled her to win the World Championship bronze medal in 2015 as part of a team.
And also an individual bronze in the 400 metres in 2016, and a relay gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at that year’s European Championships and also a Bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for the 4 x 400 metres relay.
Her assaults were not reported to the British Athletics but she is raising awareness now to encourage other women in sport to share their stories.
