• London 2012

Adlington angered by online abuse

ESPN staff
May 31, 2012
Rebecca Adlington: '[Online abuse] is awful and I get angry' © Getty Images
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Two-time Olympic gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington has laid bare the frustration she feels when she is the target of online abuse.

Adlington, who says any criticism she has received recently has not been because of her swimming, intends to stay off Twitter during London 2012 so that any negative comments will not affect her during Olympic competition.

"I used to read all the stuff about me but I'm one of those people who scroll down to the bottom and read the comments thing - I learnt very quickly not to do that," she said in the Telegraph. "It is awful and I get angry.

"Even if there are ten nice comments you get one idiot. I've now given up. It upsets me or gets me angry. Most things that I read about myself are not swimming related. They are to do with how I look, which has nothing to do with my performance in the pool.

"I've never read something that has really criticised me in the pool over the past year. It's just nasty comments about things I can't control. I can't help the way I look or who I am. People are not always going to like me but that has nothing to do with my swimming. That really gets me going."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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