Former professional cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins, a Tour de France winner and multiple Olympic gold medallist, has told Men’s Health magazine that he was sexually groomed by a coach when he was around 13 years old.
The allegations made by Wiggins hark back to a time when the possibility of widespread sexual abuse in sport, particularly against boys, was widely dismissed. But although more protection for children is now in place, the sexual abuse of children in sport is certainly not a thing of the past. In fact, it is widespread.
Together with colleagues, I have recently carried out a survey of over 10,000 18- to 30-year-olds in six European countries with an average age of 24. It explored their experiences of abuse in sport, from peers or adults, before they turned 18.
