The Canadian Olympic Committee says it has revoked accreditation from the coach of six-time Olympic medal-winning sprinter Andre De Grasse.
The COC says “new information” has come to light about the appropriateness of accrediting Rana Reider.
The organization says Reider was on probation with the U.S. Center for SafeSport until May of this year, and the decision to accredit him was based on the understanding that he had no other suspensions or sanctions against him.
The COC did not specify the nature of the new information, but did say that Reider was accredited only as a personal coach with access to athletic warm-up and training areas.
U.K. media outlets have reported the decision is tied to safeguarding concerns and allegations of sexual and emotional abuse, and court documents filed in Broward County, Florida, shows three women filing suit against Reider there.
The allegations have not been proven in court, and Reider has not been charged with a crime.
“It’s a bad day for the Olympics when a governing body’s fear of bad publicity is prioritized over the athletes,” his lawyer Ryan Stevens said in a statement. “Reider has no pending sanctions against him by any governing body.
“The ones who are being hurt in all of this are the athletes suddenly forced to compete without their chosen coach, including one of Canada’s finest sprinters,” Stevens said.
His lawyer said in May last year that Reider had acknowledged a “consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete, which presented a power imbalance” but was not found to be in violation of any other sexual misconduct claims for which he was under investigation.
De Grasse worked with Reider from 2018 to 2022, winning gold in the 200 meters and bronze in the 100 at the Tokyo Olympics.
De Grasse left the American coach briefly to work with Irish coach John Coghlan but returned to work with Reider nine months ago in Jacksonville, Florida.
De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., competes again on Wednesday in the men’s 200-metre semifinals at Stade de France.
