Four-time Olympic gold medalist Hayley Wickenheiser has a message for athletes targeted with harassment: Donāt be afraid to seek help.
The hockey champ has been enlisted to help spread the message that the International Olympic Committee has a program in place to help athletes facing abuse.
āWe are there for you,ā she says in a video posted to āWe believe in you,ā she adds. āWeāll do the best thing possible to protect every athlete thatās competing at the Olympic Games.ā
Wickenheiser tells CTVās Joy Malbon in Pyeongchang that the abuse exposed at U.S.A. Gymnastics and the #MeToo movement made clear that the IOC has āto take a stronger stance.ā
As a female growing up in a male-dominated sport, Wickenheiser says sheās known countless athletes who have faced āchallengesā and that itās āmore common than people would think.ā
āYou name it, Iāve heard it,ā she says. āEven some of the hazing or initiations I was put through when I was a younger player -- today you would never be allowed to do that in minor hockey, both male and female.ā
Wickenheiser says that abuse and harassment is ānot OKā but sometimes athletes are afraid to speak up, ābecause they donāt feel they have a voice or theyāll have their spot on the team.ā
āThereās a lot of power you give away as an athlete to people that can control your fate and thatās a scary thing for athletes -- especially when something goes wrong,ā she says.
Still, the former team captain says people shouldnāt be afraid to approach the who can refer them to legal or medical experts confidentially.
āThereās been athletes that have used it,ā Wickenheiser says from the athletes village, where posters are plastered advertising the service.
āI believe in Rio there were approximately 12 cases that came forward.ā
With a report from CTVās Joy Malbon in Pyeongchang, South Korea
