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No respite for national cycling coach RK Sharma, who is already embroiled in sexual harassment charges by top Indian woman cyclist, as another allegation has come to the fore in which a pioneer cyclist has complained of being 'slapped' twice, 'ridiculed' and 'harassed' for years by the ex-coach and team's assistant.
In an interview with The Indian Express, the current national champion and international gold medallist Deborah Herold told that she was ousted from the national team because Sharma’s assistant Gautamani Devi “thought” she was in a relationship with another female cyclist.
Herold said the “toxic atmosphere” in the team under Sharma “did not allow our cyclists to perform to their potential”.
According to Herold, she was singled out almost every day and was asked to stay away from other cyclists. “The assistant coach and the chief coach harassed us mentally. It affected me so much that I started losing weight because I couldn’t eat properly… I was pulled up if I spoke with any teammate, male or female. If I bumped into someone in the dining room, I would be shouted at. It reached a stage where, on some days, I started eating (alone) in my hostel room. I was singled out and harassed for no fault of mine,” she said.
It’s not just Herold who has come up with fresh allegations against Sharma.
Two current national team members told The Indian Express that they have communicated to the Sports Authority of India’s Internal Complaints Committee, which is hearing the charges of sexual harassment against Sharma, that he and Devi “threatened and harassed” them “constantly for years”, affecting their performance.
Herold, who has been a part of the India set-up since 2012 and trained under Sharma since 2014, said she has been kept out of the team since 2018 despite being the country’s fastest cyclist in the 200m sprint and 500m time trial events at the national championships since 2019.
“She (Devi) thought I was in a relationship with another female cyclist, and harassed me a lot. She taunted, ignored and isolated me from the rest of the cyclists. Eventually, I was removed from the national camp. In truth, there was nothing like it… we are just good friends,” she said.
The 27-year-old said she was “shocked” to hear about the incidents described in the complaint made to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) by a top cyclist who alleged that Sharma forced her to stay in his room, offered her a “post-training massage”, “forcefully” tried to pull her towards him, and asked her to “sleep with him” during a camp in Slovenia in May.
Herold said the “toxic atmosphere” in the team under Sharma “did not allow our cyclists to perform to their potential”.
According to Herold, she was singled out almost every day and was asked to stay away from other cyclists. “The assistant coach and the chief coach harassed us mentally. It affected me so much that I started losing weight because I couldn’t eat properly… I was pulled up if I spoke with any teammate, male or female. If I bumped into someone in the dining room, I would be shouted at. It reached a stage where, on some days, I started eating (alone) in my hostel room. I was singled out and harassed for no fault of mine,” she said.
