Gilles Beyer (25 January 1957 – 19 January 2023)[1] was a French competitive figure skater and coach. He was the 1978 French national champion[2] and competed at six ISU Championships. He was accused of sexually abusing students when they were minors.
| Gilles Beyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 January 1958 Paris, France |
| Died | 19 January 2023 (aged 64) Créteil, France |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | France |
| Skating club | Français Volants |
| Retired | c. 1980 |
Career
Beyer competed at three European Championships and three World Championships. In the 1977–78 season, he won the French national title and finished within the top ten at the 1978 European Championships in Strasbourg.
After retiring from competition, Beyer focused on coaching. His students included:
Beyer was the general manager of the figure skating division of Français Volants in Paris.[6][7] In January 2020, Français Volants announced Beyer's immediate removal from any role at the club.[8]
From 2014 to 2018, Beyer was a member of the executive bureau at the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG).[9]
Allegations of sexual abuse of minors
Figure skating coach Didier Lucine wrote a letter in February 2000 to the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG), expressing concerns about Beyer's behaviour around young students.[10] In the early 2000s, Beyer was the subject of two investigations, one in Créteil and the second at the French ministry of sports.[11] The latter resulted in Beyer's removal from his position as a technical adviser on 31 March 2001.[11] Sarah Abitbol said that she spoke about Beyer with Jean-François Lamour when he was France's sports minister (2002–04); in a 2020 interview, Lamour said that he did not recall the conversation.[11]
In January 2020, two former students accused Beyer of sexually abusing them when they were minors.[12][13] Hélène Godard said that he had sex with her when she was 13 and 14 years old.[14] Abitbol recounted her experiences in her book Un si long silence, stating that he had raped her multiple times beginning when she was 15.[5][15] Beyer admitted "intimate relations" with Abitbol and stated: "Although my memories of the precise circumstances differ from hers, I understand that, given my functions and her age at the time, these relations were in any case inappropriate."[8]
In January 2021, Beyer was charged with sexual assault by a person in authority and sexual harassment by a person in authority, relating to complaints filed by six former students. The cases of Godard, Abitbol, and a number of other past students could not be prosecuted due to statutes of limitations.[16]
Personal life
Beyer's wife, Katia Krier, is a French figure skating coach and the deputy national technical director.[10]
Competitive highlights
| International | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 73–74 | 74–75 | 75–76 | 76–77 | 77–78 | 78–79 | 79–80 |
| World Champ. | 22nd | 19th | 15th | ||||
| European Champ. | 16th | 10th | 13th | ||||
| National | |||||||
| French Champ. | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | |