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The decision by Canada’s national skeleton team to withdraw athletes from a crucial Olympic qualifier has sparked a major controversy, with coach Joe Cecchini defending the move that ultimately affected American competitor Katie Uhlaender’s chance to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Uhlaender has since responded to his remarks.
In an interview with CBC News, Cecchini asserted that his team’s decision to pull four athletes from the North America Cup earlier this month was entirely above board, despite the resulting reduction in the event’s point value.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) reviewed the incident and concluded that the withdrawal was deliberate, aimed at minimizing the available points, which subsequently made it impossible for Uhlaender to qualify for the upcoming Winter Games. Nonetheless, the IBSF chose not to impose any penalties or adjust the scores in light of their findings.
“The actions taken were fully compliant with the rules,” Cecchini stated. “Athletes and teams are strategic about the events they enter because it’s about putting your best foot forward. She was doing that, as were other countries. If there’s an issue, it’s a flaw in the system, not with our adherence to the rules.”
Cecchini further commented on Uhlaender’s status, controversially suggesting that she does not belong in the “top-tier athlete” category.
“I don’t really wanna speak negatively about Katie, but Katie was not on the World Cup team. She wasn’t a top-tier athlete in that program anymore. She was at the end of her career. I would personally would rather race against Katie. She’s not as competitive as the other athletes,” he said. “It’s probably really unfair to say and not really where I want to go with this but that’s where we are with that.”
Uhlander, who competed in the previous five Winter Olympics, fired back at the coach for his comments.
“If I were Canada, I would be concerned in how this coach is representing the Olympic values for his country,” Uhlaender told Fox News Digital. “He hurt a whole field of athletes, all with dreams, and this sends the message that they don’t matter unless they are number one. All athletes matter, and we all deserve to compete fairly, with integrity, and respect. He did not respect anyone in that field.
“This is not about my resume or how good the athletes were in the race. This is about the fact that he intentionally manipulated the competition to hurt myself and 13 other countries because he felt it necessary to eliminate all possibility. That is against the spirit of sport and not what the Olympic movement represents.”
Uhlaender won two world-championship gold medals in 2012. While she has never won an Olympic medal, she has made the final in all five appearances.
Meanwhile, Cecchini, as an athlete, was originally a member of the Canadian skeleton team. He narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification in 2014. He later switched to the less-competitive Team Italy, and clinched qualification for that country’s Olympic team for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. He finished 27th in men’s skeleton in Pyeongchang for Italy.
Now, as a coach, Cecchini finds himself at the center of a global controversy ahead of Milan Cortina after his team’s decision earlier this month.
So far, 15 other nations have signaled their support for Uhlaender’s bid to be granted an Olympic spot in response to Canada’s decision.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) originally said the decision to withdraw the athletes was made “after careful evaluation of the program’s needs and in consultation with the IBSF” and “careful consideration of athlete health, safety, and long-term development.”
However, the IBSF has found evidence that Canada made a conscious decision to withdraw athletes to manipulate the potential points at stake.
“Although Canada subsequently attributed its decision to order four athletes not to slide in Official Training to concerns about the athletes involved, substantial evidence supports Ms. Uhlaender’s contention that the move was a deliberate effort by Canada to reduce the points available at the final Lake Placid NAC so as to protect its own Olympic quotas,” the IBSF’s verdict said.
Cecchini added that the situation has been “horrible” for him.
“On me personally, this has been horrible. I never expected a decision like this within the ruleset at a development circuit to cause such a scenario,” he told The CBC.
“I feel really bad for the athletes in trying to understand why people are so potentially angry. There’s a voice from an athlete who’s been in multiple Olympics and is carrying a certain clout. And it’s been really hard, and it has challenged myself, my staff.”