Allegations of harassment and racism lead to investigation of the U.S. Snowboard Cross Team
The governing body for U.S. skiing and snowboarding announced it is launching an investigation into the American snowboard cross team after a former Olympian accused the coach of sexual harassment and a teammate of racism.
“U.S. Ski & Snowboard has been made aware of the recent allegations. We take these allegations very seriously and the allegations are being investigated,” a spokesperson for U.S. Ski & Snowboard said in a Friday statement to ESPN, USA Today and The Hill.
The announcement followed a series Instagram posts by Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, who was on the U.S. team from 2005 to 2014 and competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Chythlook-Sifsof, who is now 32, said that when she was 17 years old, coach Peter Foley whispered in her and another girl’s ear how he wanted to do sexually inappropriate things to a “young Argentinian girl” they saw on a dance floor.
She also accused him of sexual harassment and of taking “naked photos of female athletes for over a decade.”
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U.S. Ski & Snowboard spokesperson Tom Horrocks did not respond to questions from ESPN asking whether Foley, who is currently in Beijing, will continue to coach throughout the Olympics. There were no further details about the investigation.
Foley could not be reached for comment.
“There are more serious actions that are not my story but should come to light,” Chythlook-Sifsof added in her post.
She also accused fellow athlete Hagen Kearney, now 30, of using the “N-word” dozens of times to upset her, and of making rape jokes. He finished 17th in the snowboard cross event in Beijing.
Kearney, responding to the accusations, told USA Today on Friday: “I made a mistake years ago with my words and appropriate action was taken. I learned from my mistake and I’m a better person now for it.”
Horrocks told the newspaper that the “concerns regarding Hagen were dealt with at the time and appropriate action was taken.”
ESPN reported that Chythlook-Sifsof’s posts were removed twice by Instagram for “violating our guidelines on nudity and sexual behavior” and “bullying and harassment.”
Chythlook-Sifsof said she decided to finally come out with the information now because the incidents were so upsetting that she couldn’t “watch another Olympic Games without saying this publicly.”
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