During the Olympics and the 24 hours leading up to and following the start and conclusion of the Games, 1,917 athletes’ and officials’ social media profiles were tracked.
World Athletics issued a research on Thursday that found that over 1,900 track and field athletes’ social media profiles were the focus of racism or sexualized abuse at the Paris Olympics. Such abuse accounted for almost 48% of the total, whilst “general abuse” accounted for 32%.
The study tracked 1,917 athletes’ and officials’ social media accounts during the Olympics as well as for the 24 hours leading up to and following the start and conclusion of the Games.
Twelve times as many people participated in the study as those who attended the 2021 Tokyo Games, which were postponed because to the pandemic.The appropriate platform received a total of 128 submissions and comments that needed further attention. With 26% of the total abuse, racism was the most common type of abuse found to target male athletes.Nearly half of the content found fell under the general abuse category (49 percent), with sexist and sexual abuse directed at female athletes.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe stated, “It is no secret that abuse directed at athletes on social media can have a devastating impact on both their mental health and their performance.”Athletes should have a social media presence, according to Coe, “because it enables them to connect with their fans, as well as deliver on endorsement commitments.” However, he added that “they need to be able to do so in a safe environment.””We are proud of many of our athletes who use their platform to advocate for important causes, such as the impact of online abuse on mental health,” he continued.
According to him, the findings would be used by World Athletics to “drive positive change.”
