By MARTHA BELLISLE, Related Press
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee positioned an worker on administrative depart Thursday after The Related Press reported that certainly one of its coaches was accused of sexually abusing a younger biathlete, inflicting her a lot misery that she tried suicide.
Harris didn’t identify the worker, however Gary Colliander was the one USOPC coach named within the AP report. Jon Mason, a USOPC spokesperson, advised the AP that no further info could be launched whereas the inquiry is underway.
On this 2009 picture offered by Karen Gorman, biathlete Grace Boutot, left, of Fort Kent, Maine, shows her silver medal from the Youth Ladies Biathlon World Championships, whereas standing with coach Gary Colliander, proper, in Fort Kent. (Karen Gorman by way of AP)
Grace Boutot advised the AP that after Colliander started teaching her when she was 15, he gave her loads of consideration, together with lengthy hugs and inappropriate touching. The conduct escalated after she turned 18 to “kissing, sexual fondling and oral sex,” in accordance with a remedy abstract by therapist Jacqueline Pauli-Ritz, shared with the AP.
The AP usually doesn’t determine victims of sexual abuse besides in instances the place they publicly determine themselves or share their tales brazenly.
Boutot mentioned she begged Colliander to cease however he ignored her. She mentioned he warned her in opposition to telling anybody, saying his life could be ruined and her biathlon profession would finish.
In September 2010, Pauli-Ritz contacted Colliander and advised him Boutot was affected by main melancholy and post-traumatic stress dysfunction and he ought to cease teaching her, the remedy abstract mentioned.
“He did not do this until after the suicide attempt,” Pauli-Ritz wrote, referring to Boutot’s Oct. 7, 2010, overdose on antidepressants whereas at a coaching camp in Soldier Hole, Utah. She was discovered by a teammate and hospitalized.
The following day, Colliander resigned his place with the Maine Winter Sports activities Heart. He was employed in December 2016 by the U.S. Paralympic workforce, the place he’s affiliate director of excessive efficiency for U.S. Paralympics Nordic Snowboarding.
Boutot, 33, mentioned she’s glad the U.S. Olympic committee is taking motion, however is “incredibility disappointed” that U.S. Biathlon has didn’t do the identical.
“The true origin of the misogynistic culture lies with U.S. Biathlon,” she mentioned. “The silence is stunning, to be honest.”
Boutot was amongst a half-dozen Olympians and different biathletes who got here ahead after the AP reported earlier this yr that Olympian Joanne Reid was sexually abused and harassed for years, in accordance with findings by the U.S. Heart for SafeSport, created to research sex-abuse allegations in Olympic sports activities within the aftermath of the Larry Nassar U.S. Gymnastics scandal.
They described a tradition of abuse courting again to the Nineties, and mentioned that whereas the boys concerned climbed the ranks of the game, they confronted retaliation that compelled them to finish their racing careers early.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story contains dialogue of suicide. In case you or somebody you understand wants assist, the nationwide suicide and disaster lifeline within the U.S. is offered by calling or texting 988. There’s additionally a web based chat at 988lifeline.org
Initially Printed: December 13, 2024 at 7:11 AM EST
