Team USA athletes BACK coach Peter Foley after scandalous accusations emerge
Two Team USA snowboarders have showered praises on coach Peter Foley after they both won gold at Beijing on Saturday, February 12. Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner won the mixed-team event at the 2022 Winter Games and said Foley was a father figure to them.
Recently, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association opened an inquiry into allegations of inappropriate behavior by coach Peter Foley, following the charges made by a former olympian. Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, a 2010 Winter Olympic participant, posted a series of Instagram posts regarding Foley, stating that he had taken naked photos of female athletes for over a decade. In 2014, Chythlook-Sifsof, now 32, also accused Foley of making an explicit remark to her about her looks.
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"I can't speak any higher of that man," Baumgartner, 40, said of Foley. "My 20 years on the team, I can speak very highly of his character, and he's always been supporting me through everything that I've gone through," Jacobellis, 36, added.
Earlier, in an Instagram post, Chythlook-Sifsof said, "This is the truth. I will not carry this stuff around anymore, 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 which is not okay. Other athletes who have 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. I was told by other athletes that I 'made the van ride awkward for everyone in 2014 with Hagen [Kearney].” Foley became the head coach of the United States snowboarding Olympic team in 1994, and he is currently leading the squad in Beijing.
Foley has maintained that he is innocent and has denied the accusations leveled against him. Foley said in a statement, "I'm surprised by the allegations. I vehemently deny the allegations. I'm doing my best to concentrate on supporting the athletes at the Olympics." Kearney, a US snowboarder competing in the Beijing Games this week, has also been accused by Chythlook-Sifsof for regularly using the N-word. She wrote on Instagram, "Since day 1 of making the team, Hagen Kearney had routinely and continuously used the n-word (as a norm) but intentionally to get under my skin."
The sport's national governing body, US Ski & Snowboard, said it was "informed of the latest claims" against Foley. In a statement to USA Today, a spokeswoman stated, "We take these very seriously and these are being investigated." "The issues surrounding Hagen were handled with at the time and proper action was taken," the same official said when asked about Chythlook-complaint Sifsof's concerning Kearney. Another spokesman for the United States Ski & Snowboard Association told the website Outsports, "U.S. Ski & Snowboard has been made aware of the recent allegations via a social media post. The behaviors detailed have no place in our sport or on our teams. We take accusations like this seriously and it is being investigated."