Status of Women committee  Yes, I think so.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. Yes, definitely; it has to reach everybody who's around sport and is in the environment of sport. However, why is it so important for the athletes? It's because as an athlete you are extremely vulnerable. Your self-worth most of the time is based on your performance.

Status of Women committee  The way I personally see it is that performance, as I've said, is way more than having a medal or finishing in the top five or the top three. If funding stays at the national level only with performance, veut, veut pas, people will choose a coach who's a winning coach. It doesn't mean they're a good coach, because we still have....

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  What I've experienced must not happen again; that's for sure. If I become the example of what you shouldn't do, I think that's just as good as being an example of what to do. Yes, I was abandoned, and it's true that many people around me didn't want me to cause any more harm. Your words were well chosen.

Status of Women committee  I think so. Athletes in other sports, even at the international level, have definitely come to me and discussed their experiences. I don't think more assaults are being committed now than previously, 20 years ago, but we talk about it more today. The more we talk about it, the more we increase people's awareness, and the more progress we can make.

Status of Women committee  A good coach is someone who can bring out the best in an athlete and make sure that athlete grows as a human being. Gold medals and podium finishes aren't the only things that count; what also counts is being an athlete who develops into an excellent human being.

Status of Women committee  When I came forward with my story and little by little I started talking with friends who knew me back then and officials and people involved in cycling, they all told me they knew something was wrong. They could see it. I was not the same person I was before. They knew something was wrong, but I was winning and they were afraid that if they said something or helped me to get away from him, I wouldn't win anymore.

Status of Women committee  You definitely want to be as independent as possible in cases as sensitive as these. Is it troubling? Yes, in a way, because they're all unique and sensitive situations.

Status of Women committee  Yes, I'm with them on that.

Status of Women committee  Would you please repeat your question?

Status of Women committee  Some very good initiatives are under way in all provinces, and we have some very good examples in Quebec.

Status of Women committee  I agree 100% with my colleagues. To add quickly, the national federations.... In cycling, you get to the national team when you're much older—like 16, 17, 18—but in many sports, such as gymnastics or swimming, it starts at a very young age. They can do projects with the national team when they are young.

Status of Women committee  For starters, there has to be an independent committee that's capable of handling complaints. It must be a safe place for everyone, particularly for athletes. Athletes must be assured that it isn't a "boys' club" that's always connected in some way with another federation and that seeks to protect its federation and so on.

Status of Women committee  I decided to speak up, and of course I did it in a very public fashion, with articles, interviews and everything else. They tried to reach him. He never answered. He lives in the United States. He's Canadian, but he lives in the United States, and he's still violent, because he was arrested by the police in 2017 for domestic violence.