{"id":1040006825,"date":"2025-08-05T13:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T12:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/?p=1040006825"},"modified":"2025-08-05T21:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:39:24","slug":"chris-black-hammer-thrower-and-coach-banned-due-to-sex-offences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/chris-black-hammer-thrower-and-coach-banned-due-to-sex-offences-1040006825\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Black, hammer thrower and coach, banned due to sex offences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two-time Olympian receives \"indefinite suspension from athletics\" after abusing a female athlete<\/p>\n

Chris Black, the former UK record-holder in the men\u2019s hammer, has been \u201cindefinitely suspended from all athletics activities\u201d after being found guilty of sexually abusing a female athlete he coached.<\/p>\n

UK Athletics said Black\u2019s \u201cmisconduct across 12 proven charges amounts to a concerted and repeated pattern of behaviour, in which a young female athlete was sexually abused at his hands, by way of serious sexual touching, some of it penetrative in nature, and over a considerable period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The athlete who was abused by the two-time Olympian has been able to maintain her anonymity, with the offences taking place during a two-year period when she was in her late teens at venues that included training camps in Loughborough, Portugal and Tenerife.<\/p>

\n
\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n

The 75-year-old was first suspended by UKA in 2017 and was also the subject of a police investigation in 2018. However, during a long inquiry by UKA, he has been found guilty of a dozen charges, all of which he denies.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Chris Black (Mark Shearman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The governing body\u2019s disciplinary panel added: \u201cBlack sent crude and sexually obscene communications by SMS, and he had generally touched and massaged her inappropriately \u2013 all the while telling her that it would \u2018increase her testosterone level,\u2019 and thereby improve her performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is behaviour which approaches the most serious form of abuse a senior coach could subject a young athlete to. For this reason, the recommendation of the Panel is that Chris Black be indefinitely suspended from all athletics activities forthwith, to include coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black finished seventh in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and also competed at the 1980 Moscow Games. In addition he won three AAA titles, Commonwealth bronze in 1978 and was a long-time Scottish record-holder.<\/p>

\n
\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\"\"
Chris Black in Montreal (Mark Shearman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He continued throwing at a high level as a masters athlete, in addition to coaching, while enjoying a career in engineering. UKA say that despite the outcome of this case: \u201cThere is no doubting his prowess and standing within the discipline of hammer throwing. His achievements both as a hammer-throwing competitor himself (and shot-putter), and latterly as a coach, are considerable; and his passion and commitment to the discipline are undoubted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charges included sending highly inappropriate text messages to the athlete, which Black tried to put a \u201cgloss or interpretation\u201d on, although the disciplinary panel found his arguments to be \u201cimplausible\u201d.<\/p>\n

The athlete also endured inappropriate touching during car journeys, massage sessions and in Black\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n

The disciplinary panel said: \u201cShe would lie there in fear effectively waiting for it to end.\u201d<\/p>

\n
\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n

At one point she \"voted with her feet\", leaving an overseas training camp early and flying home alone. Her performances declined and, the panel said, \u201cshe seriously considered suicide \u2026 she felt unable to tell anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Chris Black (Mark Shearman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Black also breached his original suspension on at least one occasion by appearing to offer coaching services at a Hammer Circle Reunion.<\/p>\n

What's more, the disciplinary panel was alarmed to find out that Black had paid the athlete unusually large sums of money with the suggestion he was buying her silence.<\/p>\n

The full details of the case can be found here<\/a> with Black \u201csteadfastly maintaining his innocence of these charges \u2018to the last\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-time Olympian receives \"indefinite suspension from athletics\" after abusing a female athlete<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1040006828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_championship":0,"wds_primary_country":0,"wds_primary_sports":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"championship":[],"country":[],"sports":[36017],"class_list":["post-1040006825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","sports-hammer-throw"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/chris-black-hammer-thrower-and-coach-banned-due-to-sex-offences-1040006825\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Chris Black, hammer thrower and coach, banned due to sex offences","url":"http:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/chris-black-hammer-thrower-and-coach-banned-due-to-sex-offences-1040006825\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/chris-black-hammer-thrower-and-coach-banned-due-to-sex-offences-1040006825\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/BLACKCHRIS-1-Helsinki-1983-200x300.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/BLACKCHRIS-1-Helsinki-1983.jpg"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jason Henderson"}],"creator":["Jason Henderson"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Athletics Weekly","logo":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AW-logo_with-website.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2025-08-05T12:05:28Z","datePublished":"2025-08-05T12:05:28Z","dateModified":"2025-08-05T20:39:24Z"},"rendered":"