Her tweets come in the wake of public uproar over a rape joke made by a local actor on a television programme.

In her Twitter thread, Pandelela shared how her former coach had made lewd jokes to her and fellow athletes for years.

“The saddest part was that (the coach) was doing that continuously for seven years, and we (athletes) were unable to act since he was backed by our head coach.”

Pandelela said the country needed leaders to tackle harassment issues and not turn a blind eye to the problem.

She also urged others who have been harassed to speak up, saying: “Small voices still matter if we are united.”

The Sarawakian said she was grateful to see that the divers were being protected by their sports associations after the issue broke out previously.

Actor Fauzi Nawawi recently came under fire from social media users and women’s activists after he joked about a rape scene in a movie he acted in on a talk show. The actor has since apologised for the comments.

Meanwhile, youth and sports minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu stressed that rape jokes should not be tolerated and was indeed unacceptable in any setting.

“Rape is no joke. The safety of our athletes is paramount,” he tweeted.

Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, in his reply to Pandelela’s tweet, commended the two-time Olympic medallist’s bold move to speak out on the disturbing issue.

The former youth and sports minister pointed out that athletes’ safety from physical or mental abuse far outweighed winning medals any day.