TIME’S UP, BOOT LICKERS

Australian Swimmer Says She’s Missing Olympics Because of ‘Misogynistic Perverts’

Maddie Groves, a double silver medallist at Rio 2016, said she’d had enough of young women being exploited, body-shamed, and gaslit—and still expected to perform.

A top Australian swimmer will skip out on the Tokyo Olympics because she says she’s had enough of “misogynistic perverts” in her sport. Maddie Groves, a 26-year-old who won two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Games, had been due to compete in Australia’s Olympic trials this weekend. She announced her decision to pull out on Instagram, followed by a full-on Twitter blast: “Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers—You can no longer exploit young women and girls, body shame or medically gaslight them and then expect them to represent you so you can earn your annual bonus. Time’s UP.”

Groves said in a tweet last December that she'd complained several years ago about a man in the sport who’d creeped her out by staring at her in her swimsuit. Reacting to the latest news, Swimming Australia said it had “reached out to Maddie” after that tweet but she’d refused to provide details. “Nor do we have any previous complaints on record from Maddie,” the governing body added.