UK Athletics have reacted with shock to Anyika Onuora’s revelations that she was sexually assaulted and experienced frequent racial abuse while competing for Great Britain.
Mark Munro, Chief Operating Officer for UKA, contacted the Olympic medallist as soon as he read her harrowing account in yesterday’s Daily Mirror.
“These are horrific experiences detailed and immense bravery shown here from you for telling your story,” he told her.
“Everyone is entitled to an environment free from all prejudice and abuse.”
In part two of the Mirror’s serialisation of My Hidden Race, Onuora complains that she had "nobody to talk to at a leadership level in UK Athletics, no one who understood what I had experienced.
“The track was dominated by black British athletes, but the boardroom was filled with white men in well-tailored suits. We couldn’t see it, so we couldn’t be it".
Munro, who has been at UKA for only 15 months, vowed that under his watch “anybody coming forward to speak to us about any issues will be supported 100 per cent”.
He claims it is a “different environment” now, pointing to a “major shift in philosophy and policy at UKA in the last 12 months to make sure the athletes are the centre point”.
But he added: “I’d urge anyone who has experienced or knows of any form of discrimination, harassment, abuse or bullying to come forward.
“No act is considered too small to be ignored.”
