Canadian swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey has revealed she was drugged at last month’s World Championships in Budapest.
The incident took place on the final night of the competition and the 22-year-old says there is a “four-to-six-hour window” where she can’t remember anything.
Harvey, who won a bronze as part of the Canadian 4x200m relay team in Budapest, woke up having suffered a sprained rib, concussion and with multiple bruises on her body.
Harvey speaks out
The Canadian shared her experience in Budapest on Instagram and stressed that it was a difficult decision for her to finally be honest.
“I’ve debated for a while on if I should or if I shouldn’t post anything,” she said. “But I’ve always been transparent with ya’ll and these situations sadly happen too many times for me to stay silent.”
Harvey also said that she was lucky not to suffer worse consequences and stressed that these incidents are becoming commonplace.
"I ended up going to the hospital, where I was met with doctors and psychologists. They tested and treated me the best way they could.
"They told me it happens more often [than] we think and that I was lucky in a way, to get out of this with a rib sprain and a small concussion.
"It did help me cure some of the fears I had but sadly not all of them."
Harvey stresses ‘dangerous’ number of spiking cases
Harvey shared a photo with a number of screenshots of spiking cases being reported in the news.
The swimmer believes the issue is not being talked about enough as it should be and urged people to be careful when on nights out.
"To anyone reading this, please be careful," she wrote.
"I thought I was safe, that it would never happen to me, especially while being surrounded by friends. But it did… and I wish someone and educated me on the matter prior to that night."
Who is Harvey?
Harvey is a Canadian swimmer who specialises in freestyle events, though she reached the final of the 400m individual medley at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In 2019, she won four medals at the Pan American Games in Lima, including three silvers.
Last year, she competed for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics in the 4x200m heats.
At the World Championships last month, she qualified for her first individual final, finishing eighth in the 200m individual medley.
Speaking afterwards, she said: "I can't really be mad because it was my first final at the Worlds. It was a step in the right direction but not the time and placing I was aiming for."