Greek president praises Sofia Bekatorou for reporting alleged sexual assault

• Olympic sailing gold medallist alleges assault occurred in 1998
• Katerina Sakellaropoulou praises athlete's brave revelation'

Greece's president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, has praised the Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou for dissolving a potential conspiracy of silence" by reporting a historic allegation of sexual assault by a sports official.

Bekatorou, who won a gold medal at the Athens Games in 2004, told the Greek edition of Marie Claire last month that she suffered the assault in 1998, when she was 21. Sakellaropoulou met Bekatorou on Monday and said her courage offered hope to other women in her situation.