Trésor doesn’t want to stay in her bag and Sarah Abitbol doesn’t want to upset her Yorkie. She gently puts him back next to her on the seat: “Sit down, that’s very good! » Three seconds later, the 4-month-old puppy goes on an expedition behind a radiator, as a regular. He often frequents this private wood-paneled room at Chez ma belle-mère, a café at 12e district of Paris where Sarah Abitbol, who lives next door, gives all her appointments.
“I’m going to have a green tea, it’s good for your health, isn’t it? », asks the 47-year-old figure skating champion. More than a bourbon, we answer. “If I drank a whiskey, readers would say to themselves: “Ah bah, little Sarah is better!” », she said, laughing. It’s true that she looks fine, radiant from head to toe with her perfect blow-dry, her dark eye shadow that intensifies her gaze, her little purple jacket, her rhinestone jeans and her heeled ankle boots . Is it really true? “I was faded, I bloom again. I would say I am 70% healed now. »
“Winning medals is wonderful, but saving lives is much stronger”
From 1993 to 2003, her name was associated with French victories in figure skating: with her partner Stéphane Bernadis, she collected medals at the world, European and French championships, won three international grand prizes. Today, the name of Sarah Abitbol is intimately linked to the #metoo of French sport. The high-level sportswoman published, in January 2020, Such a long silence (Plon), a book in which she recounts the sexual assaults she suffered between the ages of 15 and 17 from her trainer. The work, which threw a stone into the pond, gave rise to a ninety-minute documentary broadcast on France 2 in 2022, the year in which she created her association La Voix de Sarah, to do prevention and help victims. “Since I spoke, more than 900 cases of aggression have been proven and 50 federations have been affected. Now the athletes are talking”says Sarah Abitbol.
“Wow! » Treasure leaps to her feet, she keeps him curled up against her, stroking his head, but without concentrating. “I tell myself that I had a mission on earth: to protect children and break the silence. Maybe all of this happened to me because I was able to get by. » Sarah Abitbol, a believer, has kept her faith intact and finds comfort in the many letters she receives from victims. Among them, an octogenarian who, after reading her book, found the strength to tell her relatives about her attack. Or this mother whose daughter went to file a complaint against her swimming teacher. “She told me that I had saved her life. »
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