Britain’s top female Olympian Laura Trott took to Twitter to defend her sister Emma against online trolls who bombarded her with hateful messages.
Last night Emma asked for updates on her sisters progress at the games, as she was working and couldn’t watch. Emma had also been interviewed by Good Morning Britain where she was branded “bitter” and “jealous” by viewers.
Emma was asked how hard Laura had worked to achieve her status, she said:
“Laura’s not worked any harder than anybody else has, everyone works hard to get to the level in which them 24 riders were at, but it was the hours of sacrifice, not just that we made from not going to school discos or going out with friends or the sacrifices that mum and dad made for us.”
“The amount of times that Laura kicked up a fuss on hills because dad and I were dropping her [and she said], ‘if you don’t slow down I’m going to ring mum, she can come and pick me up’. And I think back to them moments and I think how on earth was she the one that made it to be Olympic champion you know.
It’s incredible the amount that you go through, and the mental toughness, the stress, the anxiety, the can’t have the Christmas dinners etc etc. Sport is the only thing you do 24 hours, seven days a week, everyone else gets weekends, that doesn’t exist for a full time athlete.”
Wishing the smaller uglier one of the family @LauraTrott31 heaps of luck tonight. I'm working so updates would be great ;-)
— Emma Trott (@EmmaTrott1989) August 16, 2016
Emma admitted she was working during Laura’s big race, and joked it was “embarrassing” crying in front of a client while she watched her sibling become the most decorated female British Olympian ever.
Emma works as a Personal Trainer and Cycling Coach,at St Andrews College in Christchurch New Zealand.So it’s easy to see why watching her sister compete would be a hard task.
Laura as soon as she saw the messages took to Twitter to rightfully defend her sister against the mean spirited attacks.
1/3 Reading some nasty messages re my sister this morning.. Bitter, Jelous? If only you people knew! She is one of my biggest supporters
— Dame Laura Kenny (@LauraKenny31) August 17, 2016
To me I am just her sister! I am not a 'hero' a 'celebrity'.. Shes been there for me through thick and thin!! She was my idol growing up..
— Dame Laura Kenny (@LauraKenny31) August 17, 2016
Yes she was working while I raced! I'm sure a lot of people who care about me were? I love my sister to the moon, so all u nasty people #shh
— Dame Laura Kenny (@LauraKenny31) August 17, 2016
I love you @EmmaTrott1989 thats all that matters right ? X
— Dame Laura Kenny (@LauraKenny31) August 17, 2016
When you happen to witness abuse on Twitter, report the attacker(s) through Twitter’s report abuse form . Never ignore abuse, even if you are not the one being directly abused.If you see anyone being abused, then be a voice and report the abuser. If enough people start standing up to cyberbullying, then hopefully one day we can put an end to it once and for all.
Here at CelebMix we are big anti bullying advocates and we applaud Laura for standing up for her sister against the hate she received.For more information on Cyberbullying and for helpful tips and advice on how to deal with it, check out Cybersmile.