Scots badminton talent Kirsty Gilmour has been on the receiving end of a vile death and rape threat after losing a match, she revealed.
The Olympic star was sent the malicious communication on her Instagram account after losing out to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung at the Swiss Open last week.
Opening up on the incident, the 29-year-old told the Scottish Daily Mail she had been called “a dirty fat pig” during the tirade of abuse.
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The message read: “11-5 then 18-15 to lose 18-21. All you want is fixing match to earn dirty money, huh? Those dirty money enough to satisfy your dirty *****? If not, just ask me, I will send some ***** to rape you.
“You are so idiot, ugly and dirty to play any sport and to live. Time to retire and go ******* hell, dirty fat pig.”
Ms Gilmour, from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, says she is no stranger to online abuse but the level of threat in the recent message felt particularly ‘violating’.
Calling out the threats, she said: “Almost every player at the top level has received some sort of abuse.
“Most of the time we just laugh at the sad individual who has sent a message with some harsh name-calling. But when it creeps into threats, then it feels a bit more serious.
“I do report them but I don’t really see what good it will do. They generally come from accounts with no followers and no posts. So I do report them but I don’t really see what good it will do.
“They can immediately open up another account and send ten of the same messages again.
She added: “I read the most recent message the morning after my game. I was obviously disappointed with the outcome of the match but I had played well against a tough opponent, so it wasn’t a particularly emotionally excruciating loss.
“I think I was in a decent place mentally and emotionally, so the message didn’t punch me in the stomach like some others have.
“With this one I was more dumbfounded by the effort that this person has gone on to write out such an analysis of the match, accuse me of match fixing, threaten to hire someone to rape me, insult my appearance and throw in a subtle death threat for good measure.
“Who’s got the time? Despite the graphic content, this one actually had little effect on me due to my state of mind when I read it.
“But I think that’s the key part. I’ve received other nasty messages after emotional losses which have really hit me hard. It’s horrible. I try to keep it rational and logical. It’s just words on a screen.
“But when it’s sent to your personal account where you’re just trying your best to share parts of your life and career it can feel pretty violating.”
Her comments come after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said it was looking to levels of protection in the sport. It previously revealed players have been approached by via social media to throw a game.
Ms Gilmour said she has never been asked to fix a match but has no doubt the trolls targeting her are involved in betting.
She said: “I would say any negative messages I receive are absolutely due to someone losing money on a bet and then retaliating by accusing me of match fixing.”
SOURCE: SCOTTISH DAILY EXPRESS
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