U.S. sledder Katie Uhlaender will not race on the Winter Olympics : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4089x2727+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F19%2Fe1%2Fd4aa472f4236ab388b6d4c38fdb4%2Fap25305676159665.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4089x2727+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F19%2Fe1%2Fd4aa472f4236ab388b6d4c38fdb4%2Fap25305676159665.jpg" class="img" alt="Katie Uhlaender, of United States, shown here competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, was denied her chance to compete at a sixth Winter Games." fetchpriority="high"/> Katie Uhlaender, of america, proven right here competing on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, was denied her probability to compete at a sixth Winter Video games. Mark Schiefelbein/AP conceal caption

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP MILAN — A world sports activities tribunal on Monday dominated it lacks jurisdiction to intervene within the case of Katie Uhlaender, an American skeleton racer denied a sixth Olympic bid by an alleged Canadian point-rigging scheme.

This ruling, issued by the Court docket of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), dooms Uhlaender's struggle to compete on the Milan Cortina Video games. In a press release, a CAS panel mentioned the dispute fell exterior the time window throughout which it holds sway over sports activities disputes associated to the Olympics.

"The outcomes of...qualification locations for the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026 stay unchanged," CAS officers mentioned.

In a press release despatched to NPR after the choice, Uhlaender mentioned she is "disenchanted that nothing is being performed once more. I'm presently exploring choices. However I'm preventing for the correct factor, as this motion harm a complete discipline of athletes," she added.

A race in Lake Placid, an alleged point-rigging scheme This newest Olympic sports activities scandal started at a race on Jan. 11, when Uhlaender, a veteran of 5 Winter Video games, confirmed up on the sled observe in Lake Placid, N.Y. It was her last shot to win sufficient factors to qualify for Milan Cortina.

Uhlaender instructed NPR that simply earlier than the make-or-break competitors started, she obtained a textual content message from the top coach of Canada's skeleton crew, Joe Cecchini. The message mentioned he had unhealthy information for her.

The textual content was regarding sufficient that when Cecchini referred to as, Uhlaender organized to document their telephone dialog. In that recording, shared with NPR, Cecchini seems to be laying out a plan to control the purpose system utilized by sledders to qualify for the Olympic Video games.

"We have had some loopy races that haven't gone our means this yr," Cecchini is heard saying. "And I am like, I can simply eradicate any prospects right here."

This is how Uhlaender says Cecchini's level manipulation scheme labored. Athletes competing in Lake Placid have been awarded qualifying factors relying on how properly they raced. Uhlaender was lightning quick that week. She rocketed headfirst on her sled down the winding ice-covered observe.

However beneath worldwide guidelines, the factors awarded to every athlete drop dramatically if fewer athletes compete. On the final minute, Cecchini withdrew 4 of the Canadian crew's six feminine skeleton sledders. When that occurred, and regardless of her dominant efficiency, Uhlaender obtained far fewer factors.

NPR reached out repeatedly to Cecchini and his Canadian crew requesting an interview. Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton as an alternative despatched a sequence of statements, describing Cecchini's selections in Lake Placid as "acceptable, clear, and aligned with each athlete welfare and the integrity of the game."

Uhlaender sidelined regardless of considerations about "unfair" remedy However a probe by the Worldwide Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation — the group that governs skeleton racing — backed up Uhlaender's allegations that Cecchini had intentionally gamed the purpose system. In its findings, the federation decided Cecchini "grew to become involved that Canada would possibly lose an general Olympic quota spot if non-Canadian athletes in Lake Placid carried out properly."

With the intention to stop that from taking place, officers say, Cecchini benched his sledders in a means that was "intentional and directed to lowering the factors out there to athletes."

In a letter to the Worldwide Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee additionally concluded that Uhlaender had been sidelined from the Olympic Video games because of "unfair actions taken at Lake Placid."

However whereas a rising variety of sports activities officers say the system was manipulated, they've declined to intervene. There have been no sanctions for Canada by any worldwide sports activities physique. With Monday's procedural ruling by CAS, Uhlaender's choices for racing within the 2026 Winter Video games now seem exhausted.