Amy Wilson-Hardy withdraws from Paris Olympics amid racism controversy

Amy Wilson-Hardy of Great Britain’s rugby women’s sevens team faces investigation for an alleged racist message sent to an anonymous recipient on social media.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed on Tuesday that Wilson-Hardy had withdrawn from the 2024 Paris Olympics ‘on medical grounds.’

‘The British Olympic Association has confirmed that Amy Wilson-Hardy has been withdrawn on medical grounds from the Paris 2024 rugby sevens placement matches and will be replaced by Tokyo 2020 Olympian Abi Burton,’ the BOA said, per BBC.

The BOA also said the matter will have further investigation. ‘As confirmed last night, the BOA continues to investigate this matter.”

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A screengrab of the message thread shows a photo of Wilson-Hardy in a black facemask. The recipient follows up by responding, ‘Genuine chocolate face x’ to which Wilson-Hardy replied, ‘Thought I’d have a better chance with the blacks x.’

The conversation tagged Wilson-Hardy and mentioned the Great Britain rugby sevens team by name. The initial poster of the message has since deleted the account.

Wilson-Hardy has not released a statement.