American sprint coach Rana Reider‘s credentials for the 2024 Paris Olympics have been revoked after he was accused of sexual and emotional abuse by three female athletes in a lawsuit filed in Florida this past weekend, the Guardian reported on Monday (August 5).
Reider, 54, was coaching sprinters Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who won gold in the 100-meter dash at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, and Andre De Grasse of Canada, the defending 200-meter Olympic champion, in Paris prior to losing his accreditation, which he received from the Canadian Olympic Committee. Ryan Stevens, the coach’s lawyer, was notified that the COC would be sending an official letter to withdraw Reider’s accreditation on Monday, according to the Guardian.
On Sunday (August 4), the Times reported that Reider was accused in the lawsuit, which resulted in USA Track & Field sharing the information with the Canadians upon learning of his accreditation. Three women, including two who were named, filed the lawsuit in Broward County, which alleges that one victim suffered sexual and emotional abuse and harassment by Reider while two others claimed they were victims of sexual and verbal harassment.
Stevens claimed that Reider was “unjustly stripped of his Olympic coaching credential, based on years‑old claims in a lawsuit by former athletes seeking financial gain” in a statement to the Guardian. Other notable defendants named in the lawsuit include USA Track & Field, Reider’s Tumbleweed Track Club, Puma, Adidas and Reider’s company.
Canada already faced scrutiny for accrediting Reider after he was sanctioned by US Safesport with a 12-month probation for an alleged relationship with an athlete that “presented a power imbalance,” according to the Guardian. USA Track & Field is also reported to have issued an indefinite safety plan prohibiting Reider from coaching any athletes one-on-one and needing to be accompanied by a chaperone amid the new allegations, the Times reported.
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