US officials accused of ignoring sexual harassment and abuse for decades

Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others who held positions of power over women on the US Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and other biathletes.

And while the men involved climbed the ranks of the sport, these women — who described a culture of abuse dating back to the 1990s — told the AP they were forced to end their racing careers early.

One coach resigned after the young biathlete he was accused of sexually abusing attempted suicide, but he was later hired to coach the US Paralympic team.

Max Cobb, who the women say was informed but failed to address the claims, went from US domestic team manager to CEO of the US Biathlon Association and is now secretary-general of the International Biathlon Union, the worldwide governing body of the sport, which combines cross-country skiing on trails with target shooting.

Two male coaches and a former racer on the men's biathlon team confirmed the culture of misogyny described by the women, who all said they faced retaliation for speaking up.

"My safety on the team was clearly secondary to a top-down power structure focused on image, medals and marketing," said two-time Olympian Joan Wilder, 58, who said her coach got away with trying to sexually assault her in 1990 despite her complaints to Cobb.

Grace Boutot, a 2009 Youth World Championship silver medalist, said her reports to Cobb and other officials about abuse committed by two coaches, beginning when she was 15, also went unheeded, eventually leading to a suicide attempt.

"US Biathlon leadership always seems to choose to support the predators instead of the person who was abused," the now 33-year-old Boutot said.

The women came forward after the AP reported that Olympian Joanne Reid was sexually abused and harassed for years, according to findings by the US Center for SafeSport, a watchdog group created to investigate sex-abuse allegations in Olympic sports in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar US Gymnastics scandal.

Reid told the AP her repeated complaints to top US Biathlon officials, which were relayed to Cobb, were ignored for three years.

Cobb denied the women's allegations that he failed to act. "During my 33 years at US Biathlon, athlete safety was always fundamental to me and I can't recall ever hearing from athletes or others that my efforts in this regard were not appropriate," he said in an email to the AP.

Cobb declined to be interviewed to respond to specific allegations raised by the women, saying it would be a violation of SafeSport's code.

However, an independent investigation ordered by US Biathlon into team culture and safety following the AP report found biathletes faced "misogynistic" behavior while racing and feared retaliation if they came forward with their concerns.

The assessment by outside auditor Vestry Laight, released last week, said the athletes surveyed described a sport "dominated by men who have a very different outlook on how to treat women" and criticized the "lack of attention paid to create a respectful environment".

Biathlon officials said they were adopting an "action plan" in response to the auditor's report, including workshops with staff and athletes to define core values and create a way to measure progress.

SafeSport interviews also confirmed the sexualized atmosphere. US Biathlon team psychologist Sean McCann described "a European boys club culture" in the watchdog group's 2022 report on the Reid case, with some men sharing sexual comments and other explicit content on a private WhatsApp group.

Biathlon is the only winter sport for which the US has never won an Olympic medal. Desperate to excel in the European-dominated sport, US officials hired European coaches and staff, and turned a blind eye when women raised claims of sexual harassment or abuse on the team, all those interviewed said.

In 1990, to prepare for the first-ever women's biathlon race at the Olympics, US officials hired German biathlete Walter Pichler, a 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, to coach the US women's team.

During a training camp in Montana that year, the team went out one night but then 20-year-old Wilder said she went to bed early. She suddenly woke to someone on her back. Pichler was holding her down and trying to force her to have sex, she said in a complaint filed with Safe-Sport.

Wilder said she chased Pichler from her room and reported it to then-team manager Cobb. He showed concern, she said, "but didn't consider it discipline-worthy".

Agencies via Xinhua