US biathletes fear retaliation for speaking out about sexual harassment, report finds

U.S. biathletes face “misogynistic” behavior while racing and fear retaliation if they report their concerns, according to an inquiry by an independent contractor hired to assess athlete safety.

The investigation of U.S. Biathlon was ordered following an Associated Press report that a female team member had been sexually harassed and abused for years while racing on the World Cup circuit.

“It is very uncomfortable as a woman … to be in that environment,” one biathlete said in the report released Monday, which did not identify the athletes to preserve confidentiality.

Many biathletes said they feared if they complained they would be denied training opportunities, financial support and selection for relay teams, according to the assessment by outside auditor Vestry Laight.

The AP reported in January that a U.S. Center for SafeSport investigation found that two-time Olympian Joanne Reid had been sexually harassed by a ski-wax technician from 2016 to 2021. Wax technicians play a critical role in biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing with target shooting.

SafeSport suspended the wax tech for six months and put him on probation through December. U.S. Biathlon fired him from the team and ordered the audit.

Investigators interviewed athletes, parents, coaches and staff, and studied U.S. Biathlon policies as part of the review. They also sent a confidential survey to 57 biathletes who have competed since 2020.

The report found the U.S. Biathlon Association code of conduct failed to provide clear examples of prohibited behavior. There was also no way to file complaints online or anonymously, making it less likely people would come forward, it said.

The survey showed that while 92% of male respondents said they felt comfortable raising concerns about athlete safety, only 52% of women did. Women were far more likely to say they feared negative consequences to their careers for reporting misconduct — 57% compared to 8% of men.

In addition, 43% of women said they had observed conduct in violation of the USBA code in the past year, compared to 25% of men.

Biathlon officials said they were adopting an “action plan” in response to the report, including workshops with staff and athletes to define core values and create a way to measure progress.

“We have full confidence in the USBA leadership to implement the necessary improvements and build a culture that will enable the athletes and our community to thrive,” Bob Hall, USBA board chair, told members in an email.

Reid told the AP on Tuesday that she believes U.S. Biathlon’s response is inadequate, calling it “mostly a promise to develop metrics and plans, with nothing concrete that they can be held accountable to.”

She said it was “really rugged” to see how many women had witnessed abuse but feared reporting it.

Many athletes interviewed said they feared retaliation for reporting abuse after what happened to Reid. Six months after SafeSport’s investigation, U.S. Biathlon retroactively changed the criteria for being pre-qualified for the World Cup team — and Reid was bumped off. The change didn’t affect the status of anyone else on the team.

U.S. Biathlon CEO Jack Gierhart told the AP in January the World Cup rule change was not retaliation.

SafeSport has launched a new investigation into whether Gierhart and High Performance Director Lowell Bailey retaliated against Reid by changing the qualification criteria. Gierhart said in an interview Tuesday that he could not comment on that inquiry.

Athletes interviewed for the audit said the way U.S. Biathlon officials handled the Reid case made them feel powerless and unsafe.

“It was clearly demonstrated by USBA that if an athlete, especially a female athlete, were to bring up this topic they would risk their spot on the team in the upcoming year,” one athlete wrote in the survey.

“Not speaking out is the best bet if you want to keep competing for USBA,” another said.