Two-time Olympian receives “indefinite suspension from athletics” after abusing a female athlete
Chris Black, the former UK record-holder in the men’s hammer, has been “indefinitely suspended from all athletics activities” after being found guilty of sexually abusing a female athlete he coached.
UK Athletics said Black’s “misconduct across 12 proven charges amounts to a concerted and repeated pattern of behaviour, in which a young female athlete was sexually abused at his hands, by way of serious sexual touching, some of it penetrative in nature, and over a considerable period.”
The athlete who was abused by the two-time Olympian has been able to maintain her anonymity, with the offences taking place during a two-year period when she was in her late teens at venues that included training camps in Loughborough, Portugal and Tenerife.
The 75-year-old was first suspended by UKA in 2017 and was also the subject of a police investigation in 2018. However, during a long inquiry by UKA, he has been found guilty of a dozen charges, all of which he denies.
The governing body’s disciplinary panel added: “Black sent crude and sexually obscene communications by SMS, and he had generally touched and massaged her inappropriately – all the while telling her that it would ‘increase her testosterone level,’ and thereby improve her performance.
“This is behaviour which approaches the most serious form of abuse a senior coach could subject a young athlete to. For this reason, the recommendation of the Panel is that Chris Black be indefinitely suspended from all athletics activities forthwith, to include coaching.”
Black finished seventh in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and also competed at the 1980 Moscow Games. In addition he won three AAA titles, Commonwealth bronze in 1978 and was a long-time Scottish record-holder.
He continued throwing at a high level as a masters athlete, in addition to coaching, while enjoying a career in engineering. UKA say that despite the outcome of this case: “There is no doubting his prowess and standing within the discipline of hammer throwing. His achievements both as a hammer-throwing competitor himself (and shot-putter), and latterly as a coach, are considerable; and his passion and commitment to the discipline are undoubted.”
The charges included sending highly inappropriate text messages to the athlete, which Black tried to put a “gloss or…
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