The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has fired a coach and a director after The Associated Press reported that the coach was accused of sexually abusing a young biathlete, causing her so much distress that she attempted suicide.
“Following our thorough internal evaluation, we can confirm that Gary Colliander and Eileen Carey are no longer affiliated with the USOPC,” spokesman Jon Mason told the AP. He refused to provide a reason, saying only that Colliander was put on administrative leave from the Paralympic team in December — days after the AP report on the alleged misconduct. The two were fired on March 14.
Colliander was accused of sexually abusing Grace Boutot, a biathlete he coached at the Maine Winter Sports Center over four years beginning in 2006 when she was 15, the AP reported. Colliander quit the job after Boutot’s October 2010 suicide attempt and was later hired by the U.S. Paralympic Nordic team.
Carey was the Maine center’s vice president at the time of the abuse and had discussed it with Boutot’s mother. After leaving the center in December 2010, Carey was hired as a coach and later promoted to director of the Paralympic team. She was there when Colliander came onboard.
Mason declined to say whether Carey hired Colliander or how the Paralympic team vets the coaches they hire. The U.S. Center for SafeSport, created to investigate sex-abuse allegations in Olympic sports in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar U.S. Gymnastics scandal, launched an investigation into Colliander in December.
“Please note that Mr. Colliander’s case remains active with SafeSport,” Mason told the AP.
Colliander’s lawyer, Simone Montoya, said officials did not tell Colliander why he was fired and he “adamantly denies any wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior, as alleged.”
Colliander “is committed to full and transparent cooperation into this matter,” Montoya told the AP in an email. “He denies any conduct in violation of the SafeSport Code or applicable laws and policies and maintains that he has always upheld professional standards throughout his career.”
AP phone and email messages seeking comment from Carey were not immediately returned.
Boutot was among a half-dozen Olympians and other biathletes who came forward after the AP reported last year that Olympian Joanne Reid was sexually abused and harassed for years, according to SafeSport findings. Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with target shooting.
The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse except in cases where they publicly identify themselves or share their stories openly.
Boutot, 34, told the AP that when Colliander began coaching her, he gave her a lot of attention, including inappropriate touching. The conduct escalated after she turned 18 to “kissing, sexual fondling and oral sex,” according to a treatment summary by her therapist, Jacqueline Pauli-Ritz, shared with the AP.
Boutot said she begged Colliander to stop but he ignored her. She became severely depressed and started cutting herself, according to the therapist’s notes. In September 2010, Pauli-Ritz contacted Colliander and told him Boutot was suffering from major depression and he should stop coaching her, the treatment summary said.
“He did not do this until after the suicide attempt,” Pauli-Ritz wrote, referring to Boutot’s Oct. 7, 2010, overdose on antidepressants during a Utah training camp.
Colliander resigned the next day. He took a coaching job in Colorado and was hired in December 2016 by the U.S. Paralympic team. He was associate director of high performance for U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing before being fired.
Boutot tried to keep racing but faced discrimination by the center’s staff and teammates, who blamed her for his departure, according to a letter she wrote to the Maine Sports Center’s board in January 2011.
Boutot’s mother, Karen Gorman, had repeated discussions and email exchanges with Carey and the center’s CEO, Andy Shepard, about the abuse her daughter suffered, Gorman told the AP.
In an Oct. 22, 2010, email, Gorman told them, “the issue of any coach-athlete relationships … must be scrutinized” by the Maine sports center.
Carey responded that she was “working really hard” to make that happen. “I am very supportive of having positive things come out of this situation for everyone involved,” she said in an Oct. 25, 2010, email.
But, Boutot told the AP, no investigation was ever conducted.
In a 2011 complaint she filed with the Maine Human Rights Commission, Boutot accused the Maine sports center of failing to prevent Colliander’s sexual misconduct and retaliating against her when she reported it — denying her coaching and ending financing of equipment, travel, athlete housing and other U.S. Biathlon competition-related expenses.
The center settled for $75,000 in September 2011 and Boutot quit racing.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
