Reveals shortly before the World Cup start
German athletes raise allegations of abuse
08.09.2025 – 10:37 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A ZDF research reveals great grievances in German athletics. Several athletes report attacking behavior and abuse by their trainers.
Eileen Demes is one of the best German hurdles over 400 meters. Now she has decided to go public. In a documentation of the ZDF magazine “Frontal”, the athlete describes how her former coach is said to have written her love letters when she was a minor.
Demes was 17 years old, her trainer in late 40, when he was said to have invited her to a meal. He is said to have told her that he would like to “wake up next to me every day”. The Olympic participant, who will start at the Tokyo World Cup next week, remembers the moment and reports how she reacted at the time. “Then he told me that he loves me,” says Demes, who, like other colleagues, silent for many years, out of fear of endangering her career.
In addition to her, seven other athletes in ZDF research make serious allegations against their former coaches. These should be different forms of crossing border-such as nightly chat messages or sexual abuse.
Accordingly, several national associations, including Baden, Berlin, Hesse and Lower Saxony, are affected. In one case from Mannheim, indictment for sexual coercion has already been raised. In one case from Hesse, the relevant trainer was withdrawn from the license.
In a further case in Lower Saxony, the Hanover public prosecutor’s office is investigating. There the German Athletics Association also checks a license withdrawal. Landesverband and athlete have filed a complaint. The affected trainer has rejected all accusations as “baseless and unproven assumptions” by his lawyer.