U.S. Ski & Snowboard Interfering in Peter Foley Investigation, U.S. Senator Says

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee that investigated sexual abuse in Olympic sports, wrote a letter saying U.S. Ski & Snowboard has interfered with an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against longtime coach Peter Foley.

Rachel Axon of USA Today reported on the letter and noted the U.S. Center for SafeSport has been investigating Foley and temporarily suspended him. U.S. Ski & Snowboard confirmed Monday that he is no longer the coach.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an organization tasked with investigating allegations of sexual misconduct within Olympic sports and opened in 2017 after individual governing bodies previously mishandled such allegations.

Alyssa Roenigk and Tisha Thompson of ESPN reported three former athletes and a former employee of U.S. Ski & Snowboard accused Foley, who had been the head coach of the U.S. snowboard team since 1994 and took athletes to seven different Olympics, of “sexual misconduct including sexual assault, unwanted kissing and touching, and coercing them into taking nude photos.”

The first allegations were made public during the most recent Beijing Olympics when snowboardcross athlete Callan Chythlook-Sifsof wrote messages on Instagram accusing Foley of sexual misconduct.

According to the ESPN report, one athlete said she felt powerless to stop Foley when he started to kiss her following a post-race event because he “effectively decided which athletes would make the Olympics” by seeding athletes and deciding who would travel to World Cup events.

“Any allegations of sexual misconduct being made against him are false,” Foley’s attorney, Howard Jacobs, told ESPN. “Mr. Foley has not engaged in any conduct that violates the SafeSport Code, and he will cooperate with the U.S. Center for SafeSport when and if they contact him.”

Axon noted federal law states the U.S. Center for SafeSport must report attempts to interfere with an investigation to Congress within 72 hours.

Grassley’s letter states the organization reported that U.S. Ski & Snowboard did not notify it of allegations or provide evidence in a timely manner all while conducting its own separate investigation.

What’s more, the letter said U.S. Ski & Snowboard made “an effort to discourage participation” and “identify who may be participating” by misinforming anyone taking part in the investigation.