I had posted earlier today that Lebanese athlete Gretta Taslakian was banned from the Olympic Village and had to return home after she was seen wearing Ireland’s uniform during a training session. Added to that and according to Lorient-LeJour’s article, it was Gretta’s coach Vahé Abrahamian who testified against her and showed the Olympic committee pictures of Gretta wearing Ireland’s uniform (Not Available anywhere on the net).
I thought the story is very weird and did some research and asked some friends around and the truth is I was shocked to hear what really happened, or at least what I was told from some presumably reliable sources and read in an article. Here’s a summary of the Press Release Inter-Liban club issued yesterday:
1- Gretta is participating in the Olympic games for the third consecutive time unlike Vahe who’s there for the first time. As a result Gretta has a lot of friends among athletes and coaches.
2- Vahé was acting like an overprotective boyfriend the whole trip which obviously annoyed Gretta. He would get upset if she doesn’t have dinner with him and once threatened her to file a report against her before the 200m race. Gretta however never skipped practice and tried to contain the situation.
3- Gretta was friends with the Irish coach for years and with others as well and used to roam around the village all the time. The jacket she was wearing was a Nike one that had nothing to do with the Irish team.
4- The Lebanese Olympic committee should have gone through the report Vahe issued more thoroughly and verified the facts stated. Gretta is a great athlete that does not deserve such treatment. What a shame!
It looks like a sexual harassment case and if this is true, this coach will be in serious trouble when he gets back to Lebanon.