When Sports 'Fans' Take Things to a Dark Place

The Athletic takes a deep dive into how stalking has infiltrated the world of college, pro athletes
Posted Aug 17, 2025 6:39 AM CDT
Stalkers Don't Shy Away From Sports Stars
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is seen before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky on July 27 in Chicago.   (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Actors, singers, and other artists often end up being stalked by their "fans"—but what about famous athletes? That's a big issue, too, per the Athletic, which reports on the spiking trend of stalking incidents in the sports arena. The outlet counts 50-plus athlete stalking cases since 2020 alone, though it's likely just a partial list. Major names like basketball star Caitlin Clark, gymnastics legend Simon Biles, and Olympian sprinter Gabby Thomas are included on that unfortunate roster, and there are men who've fallen victim, too, such as ex-Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald, who has long being stalked by a woman falsely claiming to be his wife. The problem has been exacerbated by social media, and the NCAA even hired an outside company two years ago to keep tabs on shady messages about or sent to athletes, coaches, and refs.

But "you can't create a perimeter around someone's entire life," the Athletic notes. Women's pro tennis and golf are especially vulnerable to stalkers, with tennis' Monica Seles being one of the most notable athletes to have been harassed. As for anti-stalking federal and state laws on the books, the Athletic notes most are "toothless," with much of the onus put on victims to get restraining orders that are often violated anyway. The growing popularity of women's sports, meanwhile, may actually be making things on the stalking front worse. "There's a long history of when women's sport becomes popular ... that we see a plethora of ways in which women's value, popularity, and visibility is undermined, marginalized, silenced, and erased," said Nicole LaVoi, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. "I think harassment and stalking is one exemplar of that." Read the full story.

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