Former US snowboarder accuses US coach of sexual harassment
Former US snowboarder accuses US coach of sexual harassment
A former US Olympic snowboarder accused US Beijing Winter Olympic snowboard coach Peter Foley of sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behavior in a series of Instagram posts on Friday.
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof said on her Instagram account that "Peter Foley has taken naked photos of female athletes for over a decade" and made a sexual remark to her and a teammate when she was only 17 at Lake Louise, Canada, in 2014.
"I cannot watch another Olympic Games without saying this publicly," Chythlook-Sifsof wrote on Instagram.
In a statement to multiple media outlets, US Ski & Snowboard said the US national governing body for the sport is investigating the allegations.
"US Ski and Snowboard has been made aware of the recent allegations," the statement said. "We take these allegations very seriously and the allegations are being investigated."
Chythlook-Sifsof also said Hagen Kearney, a US snowboardcross Olympian, had used a racial slur and harassed her.
"I will not carry this stuff around anymore,@ she posted. "There was bizarre behavior across the board. The people I've named have overtly behaved toxically but the truth is the culture on the team protected this behavior. Things have been normalized that are not okay.
"Other athletes have in engaged in racist, misogynist behavior, actively participated in the strange dynamics that Peter Foley created and caused female athletes/staff to be victims of sexual violence."
(R.Dupont--LPdF)
