Canadian swimmer, Mary-Sophie Harvey, reveals on social media she was drugged at the FINA World Championships

The excitement surrounding a World Championship for any athlete is palpable. In this day and age, that excitement is shown on social media with pictures on Instagram and videos on TikTok. It could be seen on Mary-Sophie Harvey’s profile prior to Budapest. Unfortunately, her social media went from excitement to devastation earlier this week when she revealed on Instagram that she was drugged on the last day of the FINA World Championships.

Harvey took to her Instagram page on Wednesday to share a long statement through a series of photos informing her fans of the events that took place prior to her leaving Budapest. The first photo in the series was a poem called Blackness. It reads, “The bruises left are the only reminders I have from the night you drained the color out of me.”

Harvey goes on to explain the timeline of her evening. She shared that she woke up the morning she was to depart with her team manager and doctor by her bed and no recollection of what occurred. She had gone out to celebrate, but stayed within her limits with her next competition, the Commonwealth Games, on her mind. And then? Her mind went blank. There are four to six hours of time that are gone without a trace.

When Harvey arrived home in Canada, she had dinner with her family and recalled her mom telling her, “You look different.” She did not immediately share with her family what occurred, but she went on to say in her post that she felt different - ashamed.

Harvey found her body covered in bruises upon her arrival in Canada. Her friends tried to explain it away saying that it was likely from them having to carry her back to their hotel while she was unconscious, but she went on to say that there were also bruises she wasn’t comfortable sharing, alluding to the fact that her friends carrying her was not the cause.

This kind of situation is common. It happens way more often than most people realize. According to a study published in Psychology of Violence in 2016, “In a survey of more than 6,000 students at three U.S. universities, 462 respondents, or 7.8%, self-reported that they’d been drugged before. In contrast, 83 students (1.4%) said they have drugged someone else. Of those who reported having been drugged, 12.1% reported being the victims of “unwanted sexual touching,” and 5.4% reported what study authors term “forced sexual intercourse.”

With drugging and sexual assault occurring so frequently, it is a sad reality that athletes could be targeted at events such as the FINA World Championships or Olympics. Harvey was told by a local doctor and psychologist that she was “lucky” to make it out with a rib sprain and small concussion, but these athletes shouldn’t just feel lucky, they should feel safe.

“We are in contact with Swimming Canada and the Local Organising Committee. In 2021, FINA adopted widespread measures aimed at safeguarding athletes and an Independent Investigation Officer will be assigned to investigate the matter further,” FINA said in a statement.

While FINA may have implemented changes, there is still the possibility for things to fall through the cracks as they did on this occasion. Harvey finished her series of photos with a collage of news article titles that highlighted the rise in drink spiking around the world. Bringing light to these situations and using her own experience to educate shows that Mary-Sophie Harvey is not just a force in the pool, but she also possesses a strength that others could only wish to bear.