Former high jump world champion Patrik Sjöberg revealed in his memoirs published earlier this week how his former coach and stepfather Viljo Nousiainen molested him from he was 11 years old until he about the age of 15 had “the body of a grown man”. This after also former high jumper Christian Skaar Thomassen told him that he had been abused by Nousiainen, and before now track coach Yannick Tregaro revealed that he also had been molestated by Nousiainen.
Swedish news site corren.se was quick to point out the swimming club Linköpings ASS as a shining example having a policy against sexual harassment, after having learned it ‘the hard way’. But then Swedish olympian Ida Marko-Varga came forward, describing on her blog and on Expressen.se how she 8 years ago was harassed by a national coach working at Linköpings ASS, resulting in the coach eventually being convicted for sexual harassment. But that even though this coach was convicted, he kept his job at the club, and that she when selected for the European Championships in Eindhoven 2010 had to react to him being selected as her national coach.
Today another unnamed swimmer came forward on Swedish news site dn.se, describing how she at the age of 15 was sexual harassed by her drunk coach in an apartment with older team members, who told her to not tell anybody. And how this coach used to harass them even when in company of parents. After two years she told the board who fired the coach, but never reported it to the police. Today the current head coach of the club denies the whole incident when asked about it by the news site, even though he accordingly to the now 18-year-old woman was involved in the firing of the perpetrator.
