Aussie Swimmer Withdraws from Olympics as Lesson to ‘Misogynistic Perverts’

Maddie Groves
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

An Australian female swimmer has decided to end her Olympic pursuits early to teach a lesson to the “misogynistic perverts she claims are “exploiting” her and other young women.

Groves, 26, announced that she would not be taking part in the Tokyo Games on Instagram.

“I’m so grateful to feel so supported in this decision. I feel very relieved and I’m looking forward to racing at some other competitions later in the year,” she wrote. She then added a caption to her tweet in which she specifically spelled out her reason for withdrawing.

“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 has spoken out about alleged abuses and/or harassment in the past:

“All allegations concerning child abuse or sexual misconduct are taken seriously by Swimming Australia,” Swimming Australia said in response to Groves’ complaint. “We consider the welfare, safety and well-being of children and young people as paramount, and we have a duty to make inquiries to uphold the standards of our sport.”

However, the investigation conducted by Australia’s swimming governing body couldn’t go anywhere because Groves never provided the man’s name or any additional information.

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