Canadian Olympic sliders' call for change gets support from U.S. counterparts

Canadian bobsled and skeleton athletes have received public support from their American counterparts.

In a statement released Thursday by the Athletes' Advisory Council of U.S. Bobsled/Skeleton, American Bobsled and Skeleton athletes echoed the Canadians' demand for the resignations of two of their national sport organization's executives.

"We, the Athletes' Advisory Council of U.S. Bobsled/Skeleton, fully support the athletes of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton and their request for change in order to compete in an environment that is supportive of athletes' physical, mental and emotional well-being," the statement said.

In a letter Monday, a group of more than 80 Canadian bobsled and skeleton athletes repeated an earlier call that called for the resignations of two senior executives of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) — Sarah Storey, CEO and president of the board of directors, and Chris Le Bihan, director of high performance. 

The letter was in response to the national sport organization's plan to engage an independent, third-party mediator to address concerns by athletes.

The athletes cited issues with culture, safety, transparency and governance, claiming staff makes arbitrary decisions on matters like team selection based on biases, and has little concern for athlete safety.

WATCH | Helen Upperton discusses discontent at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton:

Kaillie Humphries, who won Olympic gold in the monobob at the Beijing Games last month, was among the American athletes to tweet out a statement in support of Canada's bobsleigh and skeleton athletes.

Humphries, who was born in Calgary and won two Olympic bobsled gold medals and a bronze for Canada, filed harassment complaints against BCS in 2018 while petitioning to be freed from the Canadian team.

In 2019, BCS allowed Humphries to switch allegiances to the United States. She became a U.S. citizen in 2021.