"Uhlaender, a two-time world champion, says she was unfairly denied the chance to reach her sixth Winter Games during a qualifying event in Lake Placid, New York, earlier this month. She accused Canada's skeleton coach, Joe Cecchini, of deliberately pulling his female racers out of the event, in a move aimed at depriving her and other athletes of vital Olympic qualifying points."
"An "amendment" to the qualification system, the USOPC said in the letter obtained by DW, is "warranted in this moment given the exceptional circumstances [...] that resulted in significant reputational harm to the sport across the world." "Specifically, allegations that another national federation delayed withdrawing four of its women's skeleton athletes from the competition until they could not be replaced with other competitors," Rocky Harris, the USOPC's chief of sport and athlete services, wrote."
USOPC has asked the IOC to award Katie Uhlaender a discretionary place at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games to preserve her Olympic opportunity. Uhlaender, a two-time world champion, says she was unfairly denied a chance to reach her sixth Games after a Lake Placid qualifying event. She accused Canadian coach Joe Cecchini of deliberately withdrawing his female racers to deprive competitors of qualifying points. The USOPC said those actions circumvented Olympic qualification principles and undermined fair competition, calling for an amendment to the qualification system due to exceptional circumstances and reputational harm. The IBSF later cleared the Canadian team, saying no rules were broken.
Read at www.dw.com
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