Governing body World Athletics on Wednesday provided 25 athletes with year-long artificial intelligence protection on its social media platforms after they were targeted by cybercriminals at recent major events.
World Athletics presented the findings of a four-year report examining abuse in online sports using Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service. The study monitored internet activity during the 2021 and 2024 Olympic Games and the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships.
While World Athletics has not detailed how AI protection will work, it is often used to identify potential security threats and filter inappropriate content on social media.
Among the study’s findings, two serious cases were identified and reported to police authorities.
Of the more than 350,000 posts captured for analysis during the 2024 Paris Olympics on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, 809 were verified as offensive, with 18% of them being racist, 13% being sexual and 17% sexist. Two athletes suffered 82% of all abuse.
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Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield spoke out in August about the cyberbullying – including death threats – she experienced during the Paris Games in connection with Olympic 100-meter champion Noah Lyles.
“Athlete well-being is at the top of our priority list and we will continue to put in place measures to ensure athletes can confidently and safely use social media platforms,” said World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
Three of the five most frequently harassed athletes at the 2023 Budapest World Championships were also among the top five most frequently attacked athletes at the Paris Olympics.
Approximately 240,000 posts from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, were included in the analysis, of which 132 were deemed offensive and 63% of them were directed at two female athletes.
A social media analysis of the 2023 Budapest World Championships found that 35% of abuse was racist, a 12-fold increase from the world championships a year earlier in Eugene.
World Athletics said it was the first time an international federation had conducted such an in-depth analysis.
“Many athletes do not know how to respond to offensive comments online or how to protect themselves,” said Valerie Adams, president of the World Athletes’ Commission in Athletics.
“The more we educate athletes on protective measures, the more athletes will feel comfortable flying the flag for their countries and their sport – on the field and online.”
