Canadian nationwide group skeleton coach Joe Cecchini has spoken out concerning the sudden nationwide controversy surrounding his group’s resolution to withdraw athletes from an Olympic qualifier, costing American Katie Uhlaender an opportunity to make the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Uhlaender has responded to his claims.
Cecchini informed CBC News “there’s nothing wrong” along with his group’s resolution to withdraw 4 athletes from the North America Cup earlier this month, which diminished the whole quantity of factors the occasion may award.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) decided this week that the choice was “intentional and directed to reducing the points available,” making it mathematically unimaginable for Uhlaender to qualify for Milan Cortina. But no penalties or rating revisions have been made by the IBSF regardless of the findings.
“This is all within the rules. There’s nothing wrong with those things. And people can be strategic in the races that they participate. And she was doing that, and other nations were doing that, because you want to put your best foot forward,” Cecchini stated. “This is a system flaw, if anything. But we were within the rules.”
Cecchini additionally took intention instantly at Uhlaender, saying she isn’t a “top-tier athlete.”
“I don’t really wanna speak negatively about Katie, but Katie was not on the World Cup team. She wasn’t a top-tier athlete in that program anymore. She was at the end of her career. I would personally would rather race against Katie. She’s not as competitive as the other athletes,” he stated. “It’s probably really unfair to say and not really where I want to go with this but that’s where we are with that.”
American Katie Uhlaender competes on the Beijing Olympics on Feb. 12, 2022. REUTERS
Team Canada coach Joe Cecchini informed CBC News “there’s nothing wrong” along with his group’s resolution to withdraw 4 athletes from the North America Cup earlier this month. BobCANSkel/X
Uhlander, who competed within the earlier 5 Winter Olympics, fired back on the coach for his feedback.
“If I were Canada, I would be concerned in how this coach is representing the Olympic values for his country,” Uhlaender informed Fox News Digital. “He damage a complete area of athletes, all with desires, and this sends the message that they don’t matter except they’re primary. All athletes matter, and all of us deserve to compete pretty, with integrity, and respect. He didn’t respect anybody in that area.
“This is not about my resume or how good the athletes were in the race. This is about the fact that he intentionally manipulated the competition to hurt myself and 13 other countries because he felt it necessary to eliminate all possibility. That is against the spirit of sport and not what the Olympic movement represents.”
Uhlaender received two world-championship gold medals in 2012. While she has by no means received an Olympic medal, she has made the ultimate in all 5 appearances.
Katie Uhlaender after a run throughout the IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, NY, on March 7, 2025. REUTERS
Katie Uhlaender speaks out after Canada was found to have manipulated the competitors. Fox News
Meanwhile, Cecchini, as an athlete, was initially a member of the Canadian skeleton group. He narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification in 2014. He later switched to the less-competitive Team Italy, and clinched qualification for that nation’s Olympic group for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. He completed twenty seventh in males’s skeleton in Pyeongchang for Italy.
Now, as a coach, Cecchini finds himself on the middle of a world controversy forward of Milan Cortina after his group’s resolution earlier this month.
So far, 15 different nations have signaled their help for Uhlaender’s bid to be granted an Olympic spot in response to Canada’s resolution.
Katie Uhlaender on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. REUTERS
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) initially stated the choice to withdraw the athletes was made “after careful evaluation of the program’s needs and in consultation with the IBSF” and “careful consideration of athlete health, safety, and long-term development.”
However, the IBSF has found proof that Canada made a acutely aware resolution to withdraw athletes to manipulate the potential factors at stake.
“Although Canada subsequently attributed its decision to order four athletes not to slide in Official Training to concerns about the athletes involved, substantial evidence supports Ms. Uhlaender’s contention that the move was a deliberate effort by Canada to reduce the points available at the final Lake Placid NAC so as to protect its own Olympic quotas,” the IBSF’s verdict stated.
Cecchini added that the state of affairs has been “horrible” for him.
“On me personally, this has been horrible. I never expected a decision like this within the ruleset at a development circuit to cause such a scenario,” he informed The CBC.
“I feel really bad for the athletes in trying to understand why people are so potentially angry. There’s a voice from an athlete who’s been in multiple Olympics and is carrying a certain clout. And it’s been really hard, and it has challenged myself, my staff.”
