Nigerian weightlifter Gloria Moses has revealed that her coach demanded sex from her: “The national coach tried severally to sleep with me before I could be allowed to represent the country. After I refused the coach’s sexual overtures, I was framed up for drugs usage and was dropped from national camp in 2013, while preparing for a championship in Malaysia.”
“They said I tested positive (for drugs) in 2013. If they didn’t throw me out of camp and tried to frustrate me, I would have been an Olympian today. Why did they do all these? Because Gloria Moses is a stubborn lifter who won’t sleep with her coach.”
“They said I tested positive. But after the dope test I had, a letter should have been sent to my state (Bayelsa) and another to me. But I didn’t get a copy of the result of the dope test and I requested for but nobody gave me any till now. The frustration was too much; that’s why I had to leave for America.”
“In Nigeria, the coaches drop better female weightlifters for those that give them what they want. I’m okay with what they made me pass through; it was a challenge and it made me stronger. I was targeting gold (in Malaysia) in the snatch and jack events because I was in-form but the coach frustrated me, denied me the opportunity. I would have made some money if I won. Thereafter, I couldn’t pay my rent; and there was nobody to help me. If I had parents, they would have fought for me, but I had no one.”
“Some male friends who knew my plight came to me and said, ‘let me give you N1,000 and sleep with you.’ I told them to go and die. I was helping some women at Shitta (in Lagos) to sell local herbs. They would give me food and I would hang on a bus to get home. At a time, I almost drank poison, but my fiancé held me back. If not for him, I would have been dead by now.”
“I will not change my nationality, I will look for a way and compete again and prove all of them wrong. I love the game and Nigeria is my country. We have bad leaders but it doesn’t mean we have to abandon our country. Someone has to make things happen.”