Former star cyclist and international gold medalist Deborah Herold has accused dismissed coach RK Sharma of slapping her twice and harassing her for years during her time in the camp. Herold’s allegations come just a few days after Sharma was dismissed from his position following charges of sexual harassment by another cyclist.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Herold said Sharma and the team’s assistant Gautamni Devi ridiculed her for years and later removed her from the national team as Devi “thought” she was in a relationship with another female cyclist.
DH could not independently verify these allegations.
“She (Devi) thought I was in a relationship with another female cyclist, and harassed me a lot. She taunted, ignored, and isolated me from the rest of the cyclists. Eventually, I was removed from the national camp. In truth, there was nothing like it… we are just good friends,” Herold told the publication. She further alleged that the “toxic environment” in the team under Sharma resulted in a decline in the performance of the cyclists.
She also said that while Devi taunted and passed derogatory remarks against her, Sharma started to harass her “mentally.” She alleged that both the coaches made rude and discouraging statements during training and made personal remarks against the friendship between Deborah and her teammate from Andaman.
The ace cyclist stated that she was asked to stay away from all the other cyclists, and was ultimately isolated from the team. “The assistant coach and the chief coach harassed us mentally. It affected me so much that I started losing weight because I couldn’t eat properly… I was pulled up if I spoke with any teammate, male or female. If I bumped into someone in the dining room, I would be shouted at. It reached a stage where, on some days, I started eating (alone) in my hostel room. I was singled out and harassed for no fault of mine,” she said.
Herold said the first incident happened in 2015 when Sharma “slapped” her. “The AC in my (hostel) room was not working. So, I went to the room of one of the boys from Andaman on the floor above mine. Sir found out and slapped me — twice. I didn’t think about it much back then and I do not think a lot about it now. Whatever happened, happened,” said Herold.
When confronted about the allegations, Devi told the paper that she just followed the instructions given to her by the federation. Speaking on the allegations of removing Herold for her friendship with another cyclist, Devi said, “This wasn’t in my hands. Who am I? Just a coach who works under the federation…Nothing is in my hands. I do what the federation tells me.”