“I cried when I found out that he had actually implemented his plan,” Katie Uhlaender from the US told DW. The skeleton pilot has represented her country at five Olympic Games since Turin in 2006.
“I didn’t know what hurts more: that a friend of 20 years has been burying my dream – my Olympic dream is over. Or that he has been doing something so terrible for 20 years that is hurting so many people,” she says.
In the “best interests of the national team”
According to Uhlaender, Canada’s head coach Joe Cecchini revealed to her in a phone call last Friday what he was planning to do to ensure that his top athlete Jane Channell qualified for the Olympic Games: Six Canadian skeleton pilots were originally supposed to start at the North American Cup in Lake Placid, which took place from January 2nd to 11th. However, four of them were briefly instructed to withdraw their participation.
As a result, the number of participants fell below 21, and that had crucial consequences: There were fewer qualification points, which made it more difficult to catch up with Canadian athletes like Channell in the Olympic rankings.
According to Uhlaender, Cecchini – who competed for Italy at the 2018 Olympics – told her on the phone that he wanted to “rule out any possibility” of Channell, an experienced Olympian, missing out on qualifying.
Her account of the call is supported by an email sent by Cecchini to members of the Canadian team and forwarded to DW by another source. In it, the coach explains his decision to withdraw athletes to “ensure a complete and accurate understanding of the points landscape, qualification implications and confirmed start numbers.” He added that participation would be determined in the “best interests of the national team.”
When Uhlaender begged Cecchini on the phone to change his mind, the Italian asked why it was his job to “promote other countries.”
Although Uhlaender won the competition in Lake Placid, it was no longer enough for her sixth Olympic participation. Cecchini’s actions destroyed her hopes of taking part in the Olympics for a sixth time in Italy.
Younger athletes “are afraid to speak out”
She is now calling on the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) to investigate Cecchini’s behavior. She accuses the coach of putting other nations and his own team under pressure with “bullying tactics”.
“He showed his younger athletes that a female athlete is more important than them,” said the 41-year-old. “What does this teach the others? They’re afraid to speak up. They just want to drive.”
According to Uhlaender, Cecchini is not interested in protecting his athletes, but in manipulating the system. Athletes from Denmark, Israel and Malta were also affected by the Canadian team’s withdrawals. Along with the USA, their head coaches wrote to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes Commission expressing “serious concerns” about the qualification process.
Canadian association defends action
However, it is unclear whether rules were actually violated. According to the statutes, there is nothing wrong with registering six female drivers and taking four of them out of the competition at short notice. However, Uhlaender suspects that Cecchini’s actions violated the IOC’s code of ethics on competition manipulation, which all skeleton athletes and coaches must adhere to.
“I hope that the IBSF does the right thing and gives full points for this race because of the manipulation that Canada showed,” says Uhlaender. “And I hope that someone will be [Checchinis] behavior examined. I’m worried about the athletes because I don’t want Joe to take revenge on them.”
When Cecchini was given the opportunity to comment personally, he referred DW to his national federation, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS).
In a statement, BCS said it was “not in the best interests” of the “young and relatively new” athletes to compete and that the withdrawal was “appropriate, transparent and consistent with the welfare of the athletes and the integrity of the sport.”
In addition, an experienced athlete wrote to the Canadian coaches on behalf of the team to express her “full support” for the decision. The claim that athletes are afraid to speak out “couldn’t be further from the truth,” BCS said.
DW has also asked the IBSF and IOC for comment.
This article was translated from the original English “Cheating scandal hits skeleton Winter Olympic qualifier” adapted.