safesport - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Report: Another SafeSport Ban Got Overturned, This Time In Weightlifting
In February of last year, the U.S. Center for SafeSport found that American weightlifter Colin Burns had committed “non-consensual sexual acts” with another weightlifter and banned him—but that ban didn’t even last six months, the Orange County Register reported yesterday. Instead, the ban was overt...
SafeSport Says It Found Culture Of "Grooming And Abuse" In Figure Skating
The U.S. Center for SafeSport declared on Monday to USA Today that it had uncovered “a culture in figure skating that allowed grooming and abuse to go unchecked for too long” while it was investigating sexual misconduct allegations against national pairs champion John Coughlin, among other cases....
SafeSport: Why Would Anyone Expect Our Paid Employees To Investigate Abuse?
Four women are suing USA Taekwondo, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the U.S. Center for SafeSport for their roles in ignoring repeated reports of sexual abuse by Taekwondo star coach Jean Lopez and his brother, Olympic medalist Steven Lopez, going back to 1996. SafeSport has asked to be dismissed f...
SafeSport Has Closed Its Investigation Of Pairs Skater John Coughlin Due To His Death
The U.S. Center for SafeSport announced today that it was ending its investigation into multiple reports of sexual misconduct involving former pairs skater John Coughlin. SafeSport had placed Coughlin on an interim suspension in January after three people reported his possible sexual misconduct to t...
Senator Boasts About How Happy He Is That SafeSport's Conflict Of Interest Is Getting Worse
When Congress authorized the U.S. Center for SafeSport, it decided to not directly fund the organization that was supposed to independently investigate sexual abuse across all Olympic sports. Instead, it set up a grant—which, it turns out, couldn’t be used to pay for the investigators that SafeSport...
The <i>New York Times</i> Can't Bring Itself To Hold The USOC Accountable
In my time as a journalist, stories about child abuse have always been the one genre that everyone, even internet commenters, agree are bad. But preventing child abuse—which costs money and takes long-term dedication of resources—who has time for that? ...
Report: Pairs Skater John Coughlin Was Accused Of Sexual Misconduct With Minors
Yesterday it was reported that former pairs skater John Coughlin died by suicide a day after his interim suspension from SafeSport was announced, but there was no public comment about the nature of the allegations against him by either SafeSport or U.S. Figure Skating. ...
Jean Lopez, Previously Banned After Multiple Reports of Abusing Taekwondo Athletes, Can Coach Again
Less than a year after the U.S. Center for SafeSport declared that it was banning Jean Lopez from taekwondo for a “decades long pattern of sexual misconduct,” the center has said Lopez can go back to coaching. Today, SafeSport notified Heidi Gilbert and Kay Poe, who had reported to SafeSport that Lo...
Arbitrator Lifts Ban On Taekwondo Star Steven Lopez After Woman Who Accused Him Of Sexual Abuse Declines To Testify
Three-time Olympic taekwondo medalist Steven Lopez, whom the U.S. Center for SafeSport declared permanently ineligible because of “sexual misconduct involving a minor” in September, has been reinstated following an arbitration hearing, reports USA Today....
SafeSport, The Government's Attempt To Combat Athlete Abuse, Can't Use Its Grant Money To Investigate Athlete Abuse
The Associated Press reported yesterday that a federal grant designed to pay for SafeSport, the national organization created to combat abuse of athletes, won’t be usable for one of SafeSport’s biggest needs—hiring more investigators to handle incoming reports of abuse. ...
USA Badminton Is Another Example Of How Messed Up Olympic Organizations Are
USA Badminton, the sport’s national governing body, was first audited by the United States Olympic Committee three years ago. The USOC recommended stronger internal controls and improved reporting on its finances, among other fixes, and it awarded USA Badminton an audit rating of 11; a rating of 0 i...
Skateboarder Says Former Pro, USA Skateboarding Executive Abused Her With "Sex Lessons" When She Was 14
Julie Lynn Kindstrand Nelson was 14 when she first met Neal Hendrix in 2006. She was a talented amateur skater, and he was an X Games medalist. Kindstrand Nelson, who goes by Julz Lynn, said she idolized Hendrix from the start. He was a famous skater since his X Games days, and took jobs as an execu...