French justice ordered this Thursday (15) that Olympic swimming champion Yannick Agnel be tried, accused of raping the daughter of his coach, Lionel Horter, who was a minor at the time, in 2016.
Agnel has one of the most impressive CVs in French swimming: double Olympic champion in London 2012 and world champion in 2013 in the 200 meter freestyle and the 4 x 100 m relay.
In May, an investigating judge in Mulhouse, northeast France, ordered the 33-year-old former champion to stand trial, a decision he has now appealed.
Yannick Agnel claims to have had a consensual romantic relationship with Naomé Horter when he was 24 and his coach’s daughter was 13.
This Thursday, the Colmar Court of Appeal confirmed the decision to try him for rape of a vulnerable person and sexual assault, considering there was sufficient evidence.
His lawyers now have five days to appeal the decision to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court.
The alleged incidents occurred between January 1 and August 31, 2016, in Mulhouse, where he was training; in Thailand, where his club, Mulhouse Olympic Swimming, trains regularly; and in Rio de Janeiro, host city of that year’s Olympic Games.
The investigation began in mid-2021, following a complaint made by Naomé Horter, who later abandoned swimming. Five months later, Agnel was formally charged.
Before the investigators, the two-time Olympic champion acknowledged the “materiality” of the acts, but denied any “coercion”, explained prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot.
Yannick Agnel could face 20 years in prison for these acts.
