World Athletics releases alarming findings on online abuse of athletes

October 31, 2024

As World Mental Health Month wraps up, World Athletics is highlighting a distressing trend revealed during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: a surge of online abuse directed at athletes.

A newly published study, conducted in collaboration with the AI-driven Threat Matrix by Signify Group, analyzed 355,873 posts and comments in 36 languages, flagging 34,040 as containing racist, sexualized or abusive content. This marks the fourth study by World Athletics on this serious issue in as many years, underscoring the urgent need for action against the digital harassment athletes endure. Running Magazine