US snowboard team hit by former athlete's allegations

ZHANGJIAKOU (China) • United States celebrated a gold medal in the snowboard cross yesterday, but were left reeling after a coach denied allegations of inappropriate conduct made by a former Winter Olympian, who also accused an American athlete of using a strong racial slur on her.

US Ski and Snowboard said it was investigating allegations made by former Olympic snowboarder Callan Chythlook-Sifsof in a series of posts on Instagram over the last four days about coach Peter Foley.

Chythlook-Sifsof, who competed with the national team in snowboard cross for about a decade, including at the 2010 Vancouver Games, said on Friday that Foley, the long-time coach of the US snowboarding team, took "naked photos of female athletes for over a decade".

She described a broad culture of sexual misconduct, including an episode in which Foley, she said, made sexual remarks towards her and another snowboarder.

Foley strongly denied the allegations. Speaking to reporters after his team's win in Beijing, he said: "I was totally surprised by the allegations. I vehemently deny the allegations. I've been doing my best to concentrate on supporting the athletes at the Olympics."

Foley has been the head coach of the team since their inception in 1994. Two of the team's long-time athletes, Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner, defended him after winning gold yesterday.

"My 20 years on the team, I can speak very highly of his character," Jacobellis said.

Baumgartner said that Foley was "like a father" to him.

Chythlook-Sifsof, 32, also accused Hagen Kearney, an American snowboarder who competed on Thursday, of repeatedly harassing her in 2014 with a racial epithet.

The 30-year-old issued a statement on his Instagram account yesterday, saying he had used the N-word in what he called a "joking context" in an argument during a van ride while he was around Chythlook-Sifsof in December 2013 to aggravate her.

He called it an act of "utter stupidity and disgusting behaviour" on his part and said he had immediately regretted what he had done.

Chythlook-Sifsof is of Yupik/Inupiaq Eskimo heritage and grew up in Alaska.

US Ski and Snowboard said the concerns regarding Kearney were dealt with at the time and said appropriate action was taken.

"The coaches were promptly informed of what happened and I faced being let go from the US Team," Kearney wrote, adding that he had apologised to Chythlook-Sifsof at the time.

He denied other allegations in her post. He said: "At no point during this instance did I fake punch at her, follow her, shout the N-word repeatedly, and I have certainly never made rape jokes while being on this team, but I am still ashamed about using that word to this day."

US Ski and Snowboard said in a statement that it had been made aware of recent allegations about Foley. "We take these allegations very seriously and the allegations are being investigated," it said.

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee said in a statement it had followed protocol.

"Our policy is that all instances of abuse are reported to US Centre for SafeSport," the committee said in a statement yesterday.

NYTIMES, REUTERS