A sex scandal rocks the 2024 Paris Olympics. And the case also involves the Italian delegation. Marcell Jacobs and Andre De Grasse’s coach, Rana Reider, was expelled from the Games after being accused of abuse by three women, three athletes. The alleged facts date back to before the Olympics.
The 54-year-old coach, an American national, had his accreditation revoked, which allowed him to access training sessions and the facilities where the matches are held.
His pass was revoked yesterday afternoon, Monday, August 5, by the Canadian Olympic Committee, with which he was accredited. The decision came after USA Track & Field, the American Track and Field Association, alerted Canadians to the allegations against Reider.
In recent days, the world athletics federation, World Athletics, had raised concerns about Canada’s decision to accredit the coach, who recently served 12 months’ probation after admitting to being sanctioned by US SafeSport for a relationship that “presented an imbalance of power” with one of his athletes.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said it initially granted him the pass because his probation period had ended in May and he had no other suspensions or sanctions pending. “On Sunday, August 4, we learned new information regarding whether Mr. Reider should remain accredited by Team Canada for the Paris 2024 Games. In discussions with Athletics Canada, it was agreed that Mr. Reider’s accreditation be revoked,” the statement read. Note announcing the withdrawal of the accreditation.
Last Sunday the British newspaper Times reported that three women have filed lawsuits against Reider in district court in Broward County, Florida. The paper says one of the three accuses the coach of sexual and emotional abuse, and another accuses him of sexual and verbal harassment.
The coach’s attorney, Ryan Stevens, criticized the fact that the coach was not given a chance to defend himself, saying that one of the people who filed the complaint did so to undermine the performance of Reider’s athletes who have yet to compete.
According to the lawyer, the coach was “unfairly stripped of his Olympic coaching credentials based on years-old allegations in a lawsuit filed by former athletes seeking financial gain.”
“The ones who are being harmed in all of this are the athletes who are suddenly forced to compete without the coach of their choosing,” Stevens continues.
The Sports Gazette Recall that Reider had already been denied accreditation for the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships. In 2022, the coach had also been cautioned by the police after gaining unauthorized access to the athletes’ warm-up area before the 100-meter world final.
At the Paris Games, Reider is the coach of, among others, Olympic champions Marcell Jacobs (Italy) and André De Grasse (Canada).
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