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Canadian cyclist Maggie Coles-Lyster alleges she was sexually abused by Belgian team member – CBC.ca

Published

5 years ago

March 5, 2020

In the weeks and months after Maggie Coles-Lyster alleges she was sexually assaulted, the Canadian cyclist buried herself in her sport.

The 21-year-old from Maple Ridge, B.C., was just 18 when she joined Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport’s women’s team as a development rider in 2017. It was during a multi-day race in the Netherlands that she said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted during massages by someone associated with the team.

The global body for cycling — the UCI — has launched a formal investigation into the Belgian team after Coles-Lyster and American cyclist Sara Youmans alleged abuses within the squad.

The allegations haven’t been proven in court.

‘This is out of hand’

“I didn’t talk about it for a while,” Coles-Lyster said in a recent phone interview. “I didn’t know what effect that would have on me. You’re always considering your future career. There’s always the not being believed, still kind of wrapping your mind around what happened. And then when I started talking to Sara, she was coming out with her story . . . I realized that it’s shocking how many people don’t really realize this happens in the sport.

“I felt this is a very important message and story that needs to get out for change to start happening because this is out of hand right now.”

Coles-Lyster, who captured two medals for Canada at last summer’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, alleged she was assaulted during her first massage with the Belgian team which was then under title sponsors Lares-Waowdeals. The Canadian alleged the individual straddled her around the tops of her legs and touched her genitals, which “seemed like a strange practice to me.” She said the sexual assault was repeated during massage sessions on days that followed.

She also alleged the individual took pictures of her during group meals and sent them to her with intimate messages.

Confiding in parents

Coles-Lyster eventually confided in her parents. It was a difficult conversation.

“It took a lot of courage for me to come forward and talk to them about it, because it’s the whole, as a victim actually understanding and coming to terms with what happened,” she said. “There’s really a big stigma that a lot of women feel around this, even unfortunately embarrassment, guilt, shame, all these emotions and even though you know your parents would always believe you, there’s always just these thoughts in your head. But you know they’re going to support you and love you no matter what.

Coles-Lyster won a silver medal at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Peru. (AFP via Getty Images)

“I have a great relationship with my parents. So once we actually got the conversation rolling, it wasn’t that hard to talk to them about it, and for them to help me.”

Coles-Lyster also reached the podium twice in UCI criterium races last season, and had a UCI victory on the track.

Team director Marc Bracke told The Canadian Press in an email that Coles-Lyster informed staff in April of 2017 that she “didn’t feel safe” around the individual “because he was stalking her with messages and photos . . . I took this seriously as a manager.”

Bracke said he’d been unaware of Coles-Lyster’s allegations of sexual assault until “I had to hear from the press last Saturday. I can understand that Maggy didn’t just dare to say this despite being safe in our team.”

Ethics Commission investigation

The UCI said in a statement it had been informed by the Ethics Commission of the opening of a formal procedure.

“The latter, led directly by the Commission, is under way,” the UCI said.

Cycling Canada’s high performance director Kris Westwood said in an email that it’s committed to the well-being of athletes the principles of Safe Sport particularly around sexual assault.

“Unfortunately, athletes often find themselves in team environments that are outside Cycling Canada’s jurisdiction, and sometimes this environment can be unsafe, as we’ve seen with the allegations brought forward by Maggie Coles-Lyster, who was a minor at the time of the alleged assault,” Westwood said. “We have offered Maggie our support, and we are glad to see the UCI’s ethics commission is investigating. We hope the people who committed these acts will no longer be in a position to victimize athletes in the future.”

Sexual assault in Canadian sport

Coles-Lyster’s allegations are the latest in a list of several high-profile sexual assault and harassment stories in Canadian sport. Canada’s track and field community was rocked recently by allegations against former national distance coach Dave Scott-Thomas. Former middle-distance runner Megan Brown came forward in a Globe and Mail story alleging that Scott-Thomas, a former University of Guelph coach, groomed her for a sexual relationship when she was 17.

The allegations against Scott-Thomas haven’t been proven in court.

Coles-Lyster said, with the current climate in Canadian sport, she felt it was important to speak up.

“It’s empowering other women to come forward and address these topics, not leave them under the rug,” she said. “Lots of people have come up to me and are shocked that this has happened. So it could be because cycling is still considered such a male-dominated sport or who knows, but for whatever reason people seem surprised that this happened.

“This has been really empowering to see the conversations this has opened up and the other women I’ve talked to about this who have had similar experiences, and just talking it through and what the steps should be. There’s a bunch of other athletes who have come forward recently, and I have considered reaching out to them. I think the strength of women banding together through issues like this is really important.”

Call for stronger policies

Coles-Lyster said policies within professional teams and national sport organizations need to be considerably stronger and more accessible. She pointed out that Canadian athletes must complete an annual anti-doping seminar, but there isn’t similar information about safe sport.

“What needs to be implemented, probably not even within just sport, but everybody . . . boys and girls need to have education on what sexual harassment looks like, so this all starts before anybody becomes a victim,” she said. “They need to know what it looks like, where to go if it happens. There’s still a lot of stigma, so people don’t talk about it enough.”

It was more than a year before Coles-Lyster finally felt comfortable opening about the alleged abuse, and reached out to a psychologist among others.

“I really had pushed it under the rug, and just tried to focus on racing and I was still going back to Belgium to race and just wanted to focus on that and doing well, because so much of doing well in the sport and succeeding as a cyclist seems to be how well you can do in Europe. So that kind of was my focus,” she said.

Coles-Lyster, who no longer competes for Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport, will race in the Manchester Six Day Series track race beginning March 13.

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

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AP cricket:

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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