Team Canada coach speaks out after being found to have manipulated competition, US Olympian fires back

Canadian nationalist squad skeleton manager Joe Cecchini has spoken retired astir the abrupt nationalist contention surrounding his team's determination to retreat athletes from an Olympic qualifier, costing American Katie Uhlaender a accidental to marque the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Uhlaender has responded to his claims. 

Cecchini told CBC News "there's thing wrong" with his team's determination to retreat 4 athletes from the North America Cup earlier this month, which reduced the full magnitude of points the lawsuit could award. 

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) determined this week that the determination was "intentional and directed to reducing the points available," making it mathematically intolerable for Uhlaender to suffice for Milan Cortina. But nary penalties oregon people revisions were made by the IBSF contempt the findings.

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Katie Uhlaender of the U.S. reacts aft the women’s skeleton vigor 2 tally during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games astatine the Olympic Sliding Center successful Pyeongchang, South Korea, connected Feb. 16, 2018. (Mark Ralston / AFP via Getty Images)

"This is each wrong the rules. There's thing incorrect with those things. And radical tin beryllium strategical successful the races that they participate. And she was doing that, and different nations were doing that, due to the fact that you privation to enactment your champion ft forward," Cecchini said. "This is simply a strategy flaw, if anything. But we were wrong the rules."

Cecchini besides took purpose straight astatine Uhlaender, saying she isn't a "top-tier athlete." 

"I don't truly wanna talk negatively astir Katie, but Katie was not connected the World Cup team. She wasn't a top-tier jock successful that programme anymore. She was astatine the extremity of her career. I would personally would alternatively contention against Katie. She's not arsenic competitory arsenic the different athletes," helium said. "It’s astir apt truly unfair to accidental and not truly wherever I privation to spell with this but that’s wherever we are with that."

Uhlander, who competed successful the erstwhile 5 Winter Olympics, fired backmost astatine the manager for his comments. 

"If I were Canada, I would beryllium acrophobic successful however this manager is representing the Olympic values for his country," Uhlaender told Fox News Digital. "He wounded a full tract of athletes, each with dreams, and this sends the connection that they don’t substance unless they are fig one. All athletes matter, and we each merit to vie fairly, with integrity, and respect. He did not respect anyone successful that field.

"This is not astir my resume oregon however bully the athletes were successful the race. This is astir the information that helium intentionally manipulated the contention to wounded myself and 13 different countries due to the fact that helium felt it indispensable to destruct each possibility. That is against the tone of athletics and not what the Olympic question represents."

TEAM CANADA FOUND TO HAVE MANIPULATED COMPETITION THAT COST AMERICAN SHOT AT MILAN CORTINA OLYMPICS

Uhlaender won 2 world-championship golden medals successful 2012. While she has ne'er won an Olympic medal, she has made the last successful each 5 appearances.

Meanwhile, Cecchini, arsenic an athlete, was primitively a subordinate of the Canadian skeleton team. He narrowly missed retired connected Olympic qualification successful 2014. He aboriginal switched to the less-competitive Team Italy, and clinched qualification for that country's Olympic squad for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. He finished 27th successful men's skeleton successful Pyeongchang for Italy. 

Now, arsenic a coach, Cecchini finds himself astatine the halfway of a planetary contention up of Milan Cortina aft his team's determination earlier this month. 

So far, 15 different nations person signaled their enactment for Uhlaender's bid to beryllium granted an Olympic spot successful effect to Canada's decision.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) primitively said the determination to retreat the athletes was made "after cautious valuation of the program's needs and successful consultation with the IBSF" and "careful information of jock health, safety, and semipermanent development."

However, the IBSF has recovered grounds that Canada made a conscious determination to retreat athletes to manipulate the imaginable points astatine stake. 

"Although Canada subsequently attributed its determination to bid 4 athletes not to descent successful Official Training to concerns astir the athletes involved, important grounds supports Ms. Uhlaender's contention that the determination was a deliberate effort by Canada to trim the points disposable astatine the last Lake Placid NAC truthful arsenic to support its ain Olympic quotas," the IBSF's verdict said.

Cecchini added that the concern has been "horrible" for him.

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(Left) A ample Olympic rings logo is seen wrong the stadium arsenic emblem bearers Charles Hamelin and Marie-Philip Poulin of Team Canada pb their squad retired during the opening ceremonial of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics astatine the Beijing National Stadium successful Beijing, China, connected Feb. 4, 2022. (Right) Katie Uhlaender of Team United States poses for a representation during the Team USA Beijing 2022 Olympic sprout successful Irvine, California, connected Sept. 12, 2021. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images;Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Team USA)

"On maine personally, this has been horrible. I ne'er expected a determination similar this wrong the ruleset astatine a improvement circuit to origin specified a scenario," helium told The CBC. 

"I consciousness truly atrocious for the athletes successful trying to recognize wherefore radical are truthful perchance angry. There's a dependable from an jock who's been successful aggregate Olympics and is carrying a definite clout. And it's been truly hard, and it has challenged myself, my staff."

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