Fri, January 16, 2026
Canada’s skeleton team cleared of cheating allegations made by U.S.
Head coach of Canada’s skeleton team, Joe Cecchini, has been cleared of rigging the skeleton qualifying event in New York last weekend ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games next month after pulling four out of six Canadian athletes from the race which saw fewer qualifying points available for U.S. athlete Katie Uhlaender, who won the event but did not qualify for the Games.
In skeleton, points are dependent on how many athletes race. Cecchini pulling four out of six Canadian athletes meant there were fewer points available last weekend. 41-year-old five-time Winter Olympian Katie Uhlaender won the event but did not gain enough points to qualify for the Games next month. She still has the opportunity to qualify, but the U.S. spots are likely to go to other athletes. After finishing fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Uhlaender had hoped to have a final chance at medalling this year.
She accused Cecchini of deliberately and strategically ensuring this and even said that he told her about the scheme, according to The Guardian. Coaches from Denmark, Israel and Malta also voiced “serious concerns” about the situation.
Cecchini defended the decision to withdraw athletes on the basis that they had raced several times last week and required rest. Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton stated that the decision was “appropriate, transparent and aligned with both athlete welfare and the integrity of sport.”
Uhlaender told DW: “[Cecchini] did not have to do that. He did it because he could. And it wasn’t to protect his athletes; it was to manipulate the system...
He waited until after everyone was registered and gave the illusion that the Canadians were going to be competing. He wanted to make sure that we could not get full points.”
The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) stated: “The current IBSF Rules allow national federations to withdraw athletes from competition at any time…
The IIU [Interim Integrity Unit] dismissed the complaints as the current IBSF rules and regulations did not give grounds for a breach of the international rules, the code of conduct, and respectively the code of ethics.” Therefore, the case will unlikely be investigated any further.
This conflict, among others within sport, have also been heighted due to the political conflict between the two countries.
The IBSF’s statement and the full decision by the Interim Integrity Unit can be found here.
