Sofia Bekatorou

Olympic Gold medalist in sailing Bekatorou was the first to break the silence

Before she could join sailing classes near her home in Athens, Sofia Bekatorou had to show an instructor she could tie a basic knot properly. Passing the test at age 8 changed her life.

A Greek sailing coach accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old athlete nine years ago was remanded in custody Thursday after appearing before a prosecutor and investigative magistrate in Athens. 

The 38-year-old coach reportedly claimed in his four-hour deposition that he indeed had a relationship with the girl, now 20, but that it was consensual. 

A Greek sailing coach accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old athlete appeared before a prosecutor in Athens on Monday.

The 38-year-old was arrested on Sunday on the eastern Aegean island of Samos. He faces charges of aggravated rape, repeated seduction and misconduct.

Greek Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou appeared before a public prosecutor in Athens Wednesday in relation to sexual assault accusations she made that have ignited a nationwide debate on misconduct and encouraged multiple victims to make their claims public.

Bekatorou, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games, has said a senior sailing federation official assaulted her in 1998.

Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou was testifying before a prosecutor on Wednesday following her revelation that she had been sexually assaulted by a Hellenic Sailing Federation (HSF) executive.

Bekatorou, who arrived at court with her lawyer, made no comments to the press.

Deputy Minister of Sports Lefteris Avgenakis announced on Tuesday he was suspending all funding to the Greek Sailing Federation and ordering an audit of its board members' assets, as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual assault, mismanagement and corruption by senior officials.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (r) received veteran Olympian Sofia Bekatorou (l) at the Presidential Mansion Monday, after the sailing champion last week revealed that she had been sexually abused by a federation official in 1998. Sakellaropoulou expressed her support to Bekatorou for "breaking the silence" in Greece regarding the sexual abuse of women.

Greece's president praised Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou for dissolving "a conspiracy of silence" by reporting a historic allegation of sexual assault by a sports official.

Bekatorou, who won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, told the Greek edition of Marie Claire last month that she had suffered the abuse in 1998 when she was 21.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announced on Μοnday it was suspending its funding to the Greek sailing federation noting its "shock and dissatisfaction" over the body's handling of the rape allegations made by former Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou.