The former world No 1 Deta Hedman has revealed she was sent racist and offensive abuse in an email after her defeat in the BDO world championship.
The 59-year-old, who was born in Jamaica but has lived in the United Kingdom since she was 13, was beaten by Maria O’Brien last week in her first final appearance, having first joined the darts circuit in the late 1980s.
Hedman told BBC Radio 5 Live she had been shocked to be on the receiving end of the abuse but admitted it was not the first time she had been targeted. “It doesn’t put me off – it just makes me stronger,” she said. “I just carry on and show I am better.”
Hedman added: “It has always been there. It never really went away. It’s not all the time, just now and again. The first line of the email said: ‘Go kill yourself.’ You shouldn’t tell anyone to do that. Then it was the old tirade of what he called me. Nobody should take that.”
Hedman has received support from players and supporters after reporting the abusive email to the police. She said: “Things have got better because in the past, every tournament I went to, someone would have something nasty to say but it was behind your back, never to your face. Then you just smiled and moved on. Now you can do something about it.”
