Leon Reid leading pushback against racism and online trolls

“Even when I switched running from GB to Ireland it was like, ‘you’re not Irish, you don’t have an Irish accent’, Leon Reid explained

Irish athlete, Leon Reid, pictured following the launch of the new Olympic Federation of Ireland campaign, ‘Don’t Scroll By’. The campaign is an initiative of the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s Athletes’ Commission. It calls on the public and sporting stakeholders nationwide to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to online abuse, discrimination and hate speech, and to #DeleteBanReport any of this type of commentary they witness online. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Sprinter Leon Reid has opened up about the online abuse he experienced when switching his allegiance from Great Britain to Ireland.

The 26-year old, whose birth mother is from Belfast and foster mother from Wexford, made the change in 2018. It prompted a surge in racial abuse and online trolling and he is far from the only high-profile athlete to be targeted in such a manner in recent times.