International athlete is body shamed and assaulted by abusive man at Leeds Station

A Yorkshire athlete who has competed for her country has hit out at a man who body shamed her while she waited for a train.

By The Newsroom

Published 30th Sep 2018, 10:21 BST

Updated 30th Sep 2018, 11:27 BST

Jessica Mayho, 24, from Keighley, is an international hammer thrower who is aiming to compete for Team GB at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She took silver at the British Athletics Championships in July.

The sportswoman, who works at the University of Leeds, was at Leeds Station on Friday afternoon when a man pushed and verbally abused her.

The attacker made comments about her 'big body' on a platform just before 5pm.

In a Tweet about the incident, Jessica said:-

"I stood up for myself whilst the rest of the busy platform avoided eye contact. People like this can scare you and also knock self-confidence but this is MY body and MY machine."

People University of Leeds