Coach molested me as teen, says HK athlete

HoNG KoNG: A top Hong Kong hurdler has accused her former coach of sexually assaulting her when she was a schoolgirl, the first high-profile woman in the socially conservative city to tell of abuse as part of the #MeToo movement.

The #MeToo campaign exposing sexual misconduct spread rapidly in October after multiple allegations against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and has since shaken artistic, media and political circles globally.

In an open letter posted on Facebook on her 23rd birthday, Lui Lai-yiu (pic) did not name her abuser, calling him “coach Y”.

She recalled how, as a young teenager, she had thought nothing of it when he offered her a massage at his home to relax her muscles.

After starting with her jeans on, he eventually removed them and her underwear and touched her private parts, she said.

“In my mind he was a coach I respected,” wrote Lui.

“I had never thought he would do despicable things to his students.”

Pui Ching Middle School, which Lui attended, said in a Facebook statement yesterday that after Lui told them three weeks ago of her intention to publicise the incident, they had immediately stopped working with the accused coach.

Lui is a promising athlete who took the gold in the 60m women’s hurdles at the Asian Indoor Games in September.

She said she was inspired to speak out by American Olympic gold-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney, one of a number of women who accused former USA Gymnastic team doctor Lawrence Nassar of abusing them.

Nassar, 54, has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct.