“I do it with calm, maturity”
Track and field star speaks out about sexual abuse
December 10, 2024 – 10:12 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
The triple jumper Ana Peleteiro-Compaoré became European champion in the summer. At the end of the year, she talks about a dark chapter in her life – and how she made it out of it.
In a video on the TikTok platform, track and field athlete Ana Peleteiro-Compaoré spoke about sexual abuse by an ex-boyfriend. The bronze medalist in the triple jump at the Tokyo Olympics also talked about the psychological stress she experienced at the time.
She explains, among other things: “I woke up at night and had sex without consent. And yet I stayed. He told me that the relationship would deteriorate if I didn’t have sex whenever he wanted.”
She also suspected that her ex-boyfriend had been unfaithful to her. However, when she confronted him about it, he told her that she was crazy. Peleteiro-Compaoré also says in the video that she eventually managed to get out of this toxic relationship.
The third-place finisher at the 2018 and 2024 World Indoor Championships also posted a post about this topic in her story on Instagram and thanked her followers for the messages and support. In addition, the current European triple jump champion explained that she had spoken about the topic in the past and has now done so again because there is currently a trend on TikTok for women to tell their stories.
Peleteiro-Compaoré continued: “I have already spoken about this episode of my life and I do it with calm, maturity and above all from a point where I am able to externalize it, because thanks to my people, therapy and time “I was able to overcome it ‘almost’ without consequences.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about these types of things to raise awareness among other people, especially young people, so that if they go through something similar, they can figure it out and overcome it,” said the athlete. She also posted a photo of herself with her husband and wrote: “Now I’m happy, I have a man by my side who loves me with all my virtues and flaws. I feel safe with him, he doesn’t let me down doubt me or him and makes me a better person every day.”