Bloomberg
March 10, 2022
"As prominent equestrians are banned for sexual abuse and even arrested, some traditionalists are taking aim at the Olympic watchdog created to protect young athletes.
“I feel like people are looking at me,” Maggie Kehring whispers to her mother as they walk across a dirt track at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, Calif. The braided manes of the show horses, the chic white breeches of the riders, and the sweaty glasses of flavored iced tea belie the tension in the air. It’s early November, and Kehring, a 19-year-old equestrian who’s represented the U.S. in international competition, is making her first appearance at a West Coast show since the arrest of her coach, Rich Fellers, five months earlier. She’d accused Fellers, a former Olympic rider, of sexual abuse, claiming he groomed her into a relationship while she was training at his show jumping stable near Portland, Ore."
" ... [T]he U.S. Center for SafeSport, an independent entity established by Congress in 2017 to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct in Olympic sports and levy sanctions based on its findings. Created in response to revelations that athletes had been sexually abused for decades by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, the center can look into harassment, abuse, and any sexual relationship between a coach and a student under the age of 20. But it couldn’t take action in Kehring’s case without her consent, and she didn’t trust SafeSport.
In recent years, SafeSport has banned some of the U.S.’s top horsemen for sexual misconduct. The decisions have torn the rich and powerful equestrian community apart, with many people choosing to stand by their heroes and challenging the center’s processes. They accuse SafeSport of conducting witch hunts and labeling coaches guilty until proven innocent."
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-olympic-equestrian-sexual-abuse-safesport/
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