Rekubit Exchange:Canadian Olympic Committee revokes credential for track coach amid abuse allegations

SAINT-DENIS,Rekubit Exchange France — The Canadian Olympic Committee has revoked the accreditation of Rana Reider, the personal coach for track and field athlete Andre de Grasse, on its Olympic team, amid recent allegations of sexual and emotional abuse. Reider also coaches Italian Olympian Marcell Jacobs and American Trayvon Bromell.

Three lawsuits have been filed in Broward County, Florida against Reider and the track club he runs, among a list of other defendants.

The first complaint, which was filed in December 2023, lists the plaintiff as Jane Doe and includes an allegation of rape. The other two cases were filed in June by a 35-year-old retired long jumper from Great Britain and a 28-year-old American sprinter, who allege that Reider sexually harassed them by grabbing their buttocks or making suggestive comments about their appearances, among other claims.

USA TODAY does not identify individuals who allege sexual abuse without their permission. Court documents list AXS Law Group as attorneys of record for Reider in one of the three Florida lawsuits, and did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment Tuesday. The attorney representing Reider on his accreditation revocation, Ryan Stevens, published a statement decrying a lack of due process and the absence formal investigatory findings to support the COC's action.

"It's a bad day for the Olympics when a governing body's fear of bad publicity is prioritized over the athletes," Stevens said.

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Reider was accredited at the 2024 Olympics as a personal coach, meaning he had access to the warm-up area and training venues in Paris. His roster of athletes has included several big-name stars, including de Grasse − the reigning Olympic champion in the 200-meter dash − and Jacobs, who won two Olympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Reider has previously been the subject of at least one complaint filed by athletes with the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which was created in 2017 after the Larry Nassar sexual abuse investigation, as an independent body to handle abuse complaints in the Olympic movement.

One of Reider's attorneys told Reuters in May 2023 that the coach had denied wrongdoing but acknowledged a "consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete, which presented a power imbalance." He was placed on probation for one year. SafeSport did not immediately reply to a message Tuesday seeking more details on the case, or the nature of Reider's suspension.

About seven months after that May 2023 resolution Jane Doe filed her lawsuit in Florida.

The woman identified in court filings only as Jane Doe, a professional female track and field athlete and current resident of the UK, alleged a pattern of sexual assault and emotional abuse that lasted for six years and resulted in two suicide attempts and psychiatric hospitalization. The lawsuit alleges Reider first approached the plaintiff at age 17 and raped her after her 18th birthday. It also details allegations of a pattern in which Reider pressured, manipulated, controlled, and isolated the plaintiff as a means of continuing the abuse.

Jane Doe's lawsuit − like the other two filed in June − also lists a handful of associated track clubs, governing bodies and athlete sponsor companies who allegedly "turned a blind eye to and enabled this conduct" as defendants. The three lawsuits were filed separately but by the same attorney, who represents all of the plaintiffs.

In a statement released Tuesday, the COC said Reider's accreditation at the Paris Olympics was based on "the understanding that his probation with the US Center for Safe Sport ended in May this year, that he had no other suspensions or sanctions, and otherwise met our eligibility requirements."

The COC said it learned on August 4 of "new information about the appropriateness of Mr. Reider remaining accredited by Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Games. In discussion with Athletics Canada, it was agreed that Mr Reider’s accreditation be revoked.”

De Grasse is among Reider's most prominent sprinters. The six-time Olympic medalist worked with Reider for several years before cutting ties with him at some point in 2022. After a brief stint with Irish coach John Coghlan, De Grasse went back to Reider in the fall, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Obviously there were some distractions in 2022 but those issues have been resolved and I enjoyed my first week of training with the group," De Grasse told the CBC in October. 

Contributing: Tyler Dragon, Tom Schad