Canada has been cleared by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) of allegations that it rigged its skeleton qualifying event for the Winter Olympics. The US team had accused Canada's Joe Cecchini, the head coach of Canada's skeleton team, of deliberately pulling four Canadian athletes from a race in Lake Placid, New York, last weekend in order to make it harder for other countries' athletes to qualify.
The allegations were made by American athlete Katie Uhlaender, who was denied a spot at next month's Games despite winning the event. According to Uhlander, Cecchini had come up with the plan, which reduced the number of qualifying points available and meant that fewer non-Canadian athletes could make it through.
However, the IBSF has dismissed the allegations as unfounded, stating that Canada followed its own rules by withdrawing athletes from competition at any time. The federation's decision came after an investigation into the allegations, which found no evidence to support claims of wrongdoing.
Coaches from several countries, including the US, Denmark, Israel, and Malta, had expressed concerns about the qualification process after their athletes were affected by Canada's withdrawals. However, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton defended its actions, saying that some of the athletes who were pulled from competition needed to rest after racing multiple times last week.
The incident has raised tensions between Canada and the US, which have a history of sporting clashes at present, with Donald Trump having threatened to make Canada a "51st state" and imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. However, it appears that no further action will be taken against Canada as a result of the allegations.
The allegations were made by American athlete Katie Uhlaender, who was denied a spot at next month's Games despite winning the event. According to Uhlander, Cecchini had come up with the plan, which reduced the number of qualifying points available and meant that fewer non-Canadian athletes could make it through.
However, the IBSF has dismissed the allegations as unfounded, stating that Canada followed its own rules by withdrawing athletes from competition at any time. The federation's decision came after an investigation into the allegations, which found no evidence to support claims of wrongdoing.
Coaches from several countries, including the US, Denmark, Israel, and Malta, had expressed concerns about the qualification process after their athletes were affected by Canada's withdrawals. However, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton defended its actions, saying that some of the athletes who were pulled from competition needed to rest after racing multiple times last week.
The incident has raised tensions between Canada and the US, which have a history of sporting clashes at present, with Donald Trump having threatened to make Canada a "51st state" and imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. However, it appears that no further action will be taken against Canada as a result of the allegations.
. who pulls athletes from competition like that? sounds like they wanted to make sure those US girls couldn't qualify for the Olympics. i mean, can you imagine if this happened during a regular season event and not in qualifying... would be a huge scandal. but since it's canada, let's just say they're being "diplomatically" sporty 
. anyway, glad no one is getting penalized for it... yet 
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. i've been watching some of the bobsleigh vids on youtube and they're literally sliding down a track at 80mph lol 
. does anyone think this whole thing was just a big misunderstanding? 
that's basically what canada did here. anyway, can't say i'm surprised it all got swept under the rug tho 
, but i'm still not sure what to think about this whole thing... maybe canada just needed to rest those athletes after racing multiple times last week? 
I mean, what if this was just a test run for something bigger? Maybe it's not just about skeleton bobsleigh, but about the whole Olympic Games system itself. They're just testing the waters to see how far they can push the other countries before someone calls them out... 
i'm so done with all this drama in sports 
but at the same time i feel bad for katie uhlaender and all those other athletes who got affected by this 
it's just not fair that they had to deal with the stress and uncertainty like, can't we just play nice? 
but like who pulls athletes from competition on purpose? 
coaches from other countries were all worried about it too 
But then again, didn't some other coaches freak out about the qualification process too? 
. The US team was all bent out of shape, and I can understand why they're upset 
. Maybe Canada should've been more open about their reasons for withdrawing athletes? At least they wouldn't be getting all defensive now 
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and now they're accusing our athletes of cheating 
and btw, those canadian athletes who were pulled from comp didn't look too stressed 
so maybe americans should focus on their own game instead of getting worked up over nothing 
the other day... anyway, back to bobsleigh... I don't get why people are all worked up about it, can't they just agree on the rules? I mean, I've been to those Winter Olympics and the vibe is always so chill... people from different countries coming together to compete and have fun. Anyway, did you know that some cat breeds have 32 muscles in each ear? like, what's up with that? 
i mean come on, if you're not good enough, don't cheat