Olympics
‘COUP PLOT’ BREWING IN US OLYMPIC BODY
BY MICHAEL PAVITT
A group of more than 50 Olympians have called for the “near complete” resignation of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Board and senior leadership.
The group who have dubbed themselves the ‘Committee to Restore Integrity to the USOC’, issued a press release which urged resignations from the Board following the Ropes & Gray report published last month.
The independent report published by the law firm claimed both USOC and USA Gymnastics had facilitated former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s abuse of hundreds of athletes and had failed to act when the allegations against him emerged.
Senators have called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate and USOC has begun the process to potentially revoke USA Gymnastics’ recognition as the member national governing body for the sport.
The report also accused former USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun and chief of sport performance Alan Ashley of being aware of the accusations more than a year before they became public.
Ashley was sacked from his role following the release of the 252-page document, which details the alleged lack of action taken by bodies including USA Gymnastics and the USOC.
Blackmun resigned shortly after the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, citing ill health as the reason for his departure.
The Committee to Restore Integrity to the USOC, which previously called for the resignation of Blackmun prior to the Pyeongchang, has now called for further resignations following the Ropes & Gray report.
They state the investigation and a Congressional House subcommittee report call for “profound cultural changes to the USOC; a re-organisation that puts athletes’ interests and their well-being first”.
In particular, the group have criticised the appointment of Rich Bender and the re-appointment of Steve Mesler to four-year terms on to the USOC Board.
Rich Bender was one of three new Board members approved last week ©Getty Images
The group allege Mesler “frequently defends the USOC’s cultural status quo” and have claimed the Athletes’ Advisory Council were not asked for feedback before confirming the Olympic bobsleigh gold medallist to a second term.
They also allege Bender has previously “intimidated and insulted athlete-leaders that spoke out against the USOC’s current culture”.
Bender was appointed to the USOC Board as a National Governing Bodies Council representative.
He has been the executive director of USA Wrestling in 2001, reportedly helping membership reach an all time high in 2018.
Bender has also been given credit for assisting the effort to maintain the wrestling’s place in the Olympic Games.
Athletes who are part of the Committee to Restore Integrity include 18-time Grand Slam tennis champion Martina Navratilova and four-time Olympic diving gold medallist Greg Louganis.
The appointments were criticised by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Olympian and chief executive of Champion Women.
“It is disappointing that the USOC still fails to look inward, even after independent reports demonstrate their culpability in failing to help athletes,” she said.
“Their two recent appointments to the Board, without athlete involvement, further demonstrate why.
“They should not be leading America’s Olympic Movement.
“The problem remains; we must strengthen athletes’ rights against bureaucrats acting with a five-ring-fuelled sense of self-importance.”
Hogshead-Makar has tweeted support for the two other appointments to the USOC Board last week, with Brad Snyder and Beth Brooke-Marciniak having both been approved.
Snyder is a five-time Paralympic swimming gold medalist, having competed at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
He was named a member of the Paralympic Advisory Committee in 2018 and is a part-time instructor in ethics and leadership at the US Naval Academy.
Brooke-Marciniak, an independent member, is global vice chair of public policy for professional services firm EY.
She had previously worked for two years in the United States Department of the Treasury and was responsible for all tax policy matters related to insurance and managed care.
Her other roles include serving on the Board of trustees of the Aspen Institute, the Women’s Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum and the advisory board of Out Leadership.
When announcing the appointments last week, USOC chair Susanne Lyons claimed the trio would be advocates for athletes.
“The USOC is at a pivotal point and, now more than ever, we have a unique responsibility to ensure that athletes are protected, supported and empowered in equal measure,” Lyons said.
“I look forward to working with Rich, Brad and Beth as we continue our critically important work to confront the challenges facing our organisation so that we can emerge as a stronger, better community for the athletes we serve.”
Athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Games have raced through their free condom supply ahead of Valentine’s Day, leaving dispensers empty on Saturday, with more than a week of competition remaining.
According to a report by Reuters, organisers had distributed around 10,000 condoms across the city and mountain accommodation sites, continuing a long-standing Olympic tradition aimed at promoting safe relationships among competitors living in close quarters.
By Saturday, however, supplies had run out — adding Milan to a growing list of Olympic hosts where demand has comfortably exceeded expectations.
“Clearly, this shows Valentine’s Day is in full swing at the village,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference. “Ten thousand have been used — 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say.”
Adams added with a smile: “It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story. Faster, higher, stronger, together.”
Milano Cortina organisers later acknowledged that stocks had been depleted due to “higher-than-anticipated demand,” but assured that additional supplies were already on the way.
“Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all Villages between today and Monday,” organisers said in a statement. “They will be continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
The unexpected shortage also surprised some athletes.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo said he had only just heard about the situation. “I just saw that this morning. I was, like, shocked as everyone else,” he said.
Mialitiana Clerc, an alpine skier representing Madagascar, noted that boxes once placed at building entrances were quickly emptied.
“There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying, and every day, everything had gone from the boxes,” Clerc said. “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics, because it’s a kind of gift for them.”
While medals remain the official measure of achievement at the Games, the empty dispensers suggest that the social side of the Olympics is also proceeding at full pace.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday awarded a top state honour to an Olympic skeleton racer who was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, speaking to Vladyslav Heraskevych on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, said he had great respect for “all the Olympians who supported you and your position.”
“Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but it seems to me that the most important thing is who you are,” Zelenskiy said while presenting the racer with the Order of Freedom.
Heraskevych told the president the award was “huge” and that the athletes depicted on the helmet “deserve it even more. Because of their sacrifice, we can compete in the Olympics.”
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified at the Winter Games in Italy on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the helmet’s depiction of athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 breached rules on political neutrality.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his appeal on Friday.
Heraskevych told reporters after the award ceremony that his disqualification was discriminatory as he had not violated the Olympic Charter, a document he said he “really valued.”
“But at the same time, I understand that this scandal has united people around the world about our problem and about the sacrifice of these great athletes, and I believe this goal is much more important than any medal,” he said.
Speaking before the CAS hearing earlier in the day, Heraskevych said his exclusion and rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee were “an instrument of propaganda for Russia. I still receive a lot of threats from the Russian side.”
-Reuters
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Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters.
“No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up.
“I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
The IOC offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
The skeleton competition starts later on Thursday.
-Reuters
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