EPISODE · Feb 17, 2018 · 39 MIN
Me Too
from Not by the Playbook · host BBC World Service
Earlier this year the sports doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to more than 360 years in prison in the United States. More than 250 women, including many of the country's elite gymnasts accused him of sexual abuse, including Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles. Among those gymnasts to testify against him was another Olympic champion Aly Raisman. It was the testimony of Raisman and her team-mates that gave the Icelandic gymnast Tinna Odinsdottir the courage to tell Sportshour she was raped by a fellow gymnast following a competition in 2016. Inspired too by the "me too" campaign she revealed, what she described as "her secret".Canada's Ross Rebagliati won snow-boarding gold at the Nagano Winter Olympics. He was then disqualified for using cannabis, but regained the medal, after a ruling that the substance wasn't banned by the IOC. The stigma stayed with him though. Now twenty years on cannabis is banned by WADA for use in competitions, but a cannabis compound is permitted. And Rebagliati remains an advocate and is promoting the benefits of cannabis when used in a responsible and healthy manner.Having competed at his sixth and final Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang Shiva Keshavan has finally retired after a 20 year international career, competing in the Luge. Growing up in the Himalayas he and his friends had ambitions of competing in winter sports, but Keshavan found it hard to convince India's sports authorities that the Winter Olympics were a major event.Kosovo marks the 10th anniversary of its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia this weekend. But the celebrations will be tempered by the sense that Kosovo is stuck in limbo. More than 80 countries still don't recognise its independence. But the situation in sport seems a little brighter. Kosovo has a competitor at the Winter Olympics - and its footballers recently took part in their first World Cup qualifying campaign. That was the result of a concerted effort to gain Kosovo membership of international sports federations. Photo-journalist Ted Jackson was on assignment at camp for homeless people in 1990 when he came across former NFL player Jackie Wallace, who'd played in two Superbowls. Jackson's story brought help to Jackie, who rebuilt his life. The pair stayed in contact, but Wallace suffered more set-backs, served time in jail and twice went missing. Ted is once again searching for Jackie. Photo: Getty
What this episode covers
Earlier this year the sports doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to more than 360 years in prison in the United States. More than 250 women, including many of the country's elite gymnasts accused him of sexual abuse, including Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles. Among those gymnasts to testify against him was another Olympic champion Aly Raisman. It was the testimony of Raisman and her team-mates that gave the Icelandic gymnast Tinna Odinsdottir the courage to tell Sportshour she was raped by a fellow gymnast following a competition in 2016. Inspired too by the "me too" campaign she revealed, what she described as "her secret".Canada's Ross Rebagliati won snow-boarding gold at the Nagano Winter Olympics. He was then disqualified for using cannabis, but regained the medal, after a ruling that the substance wasn't banned by the IOC. The stigma stayed with him though. Now twenty years on cannabis is banned by WADA for use in competitions, but a cannabis compound is permitted. And Rebagliati remains an advocate and is promoting the benefits of cannabis when used in a responsible and healthy manner.Having competed at his sixth and final Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang Shiva Keshavan has finally retired after a 20 year international career, competing in the Luge. Growing up in the Himalayas he and his friends had ambitions of competing in winter sports, but Keshavan found it hard to convince India's sports authorities that the Winter Olympics were a major event.Kosovo marks the 10th anniversary of its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia this weekend. But the celebrations will be tempered by the sense that Kosovo is stuck in limbo. More than 80 countries still don't recognise its independence. But the situation in sport seems a little brighter. Kosovo has a competitor at the Winter Olympics - and its footballers recently took part in their first World Cup qualifying campaign. That was the result of a concerted effort to gain Kosovo membership of international sports federations. Photo-journalist Ted Jackson was on assignment at camp for homeless people in 1990 when he came across former NFL player Jackie Wallace, who'd played in two Superbowls. Jackson's story brought help to Jackie, who rebuilt his life. The pair stayed in contact, but Wallace suffered more set-backs, served time in jail and twice went missing. Ted is once again searching for Jackie. Photo: Getty
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Me Too
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