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Team USA athlete Katie Uhlaender is one of the most accomplished racers in her sport, Skeleton. She has competed for the United States in Skeleton at the last FIVE Winter Olympic games, from 2006 through 2022.
Katie Uhlaender was on the cusp of becoming the first Skeleton racer to compete in a sixth Winter Olympics until a shady move by Team Canada robbed hero of that chance. She now holds out hope that Vice President J.D. Vance can pull strings for her while the entire sport of Skeleton is rallying around her cause.
What Team Canada Did To Hurt Katie Uhlaender
Don Riddell (CNN) published a lengthy breakdown of the ongoing situation. To give you the overview, here’s where things stand: she is holding out hope that Vice President J.D. Vance who is leading the Team USA delegation to the Milan-Cortina Games next month, can petition the IOC on her behalf to grant her a special exemption.
How do we get here? Well, Katie Uhlaender was seeking to become the first Skeleton racer to ever compete in 6 straight Olympic Games. It has not been an easy road for her by any stretch of the imagination and she recently stated that had she lost in qualification she would have retired.
She did not lose, however, but shady tactics from Team Canada led by coach Joe Cecchini robbed her of the opportunity.
Everything came to a head at the 2026 North American Cup in Lake Placid earlier this month. At the last moment, Team Canada coach Joe Cecchini pulled several athletes out of the competition. This caused the strength of the field to sink and fewer qualification points were available after the move which she believes was deliberate.
The end result of Team Canada’s coach pulling his athletes out at the last second, despite Katie Uhlaender winning, was she did not gain enough points to qualify.
Who’s In The Wrong Here?
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton denied any wrongdoing and sent a response to CNN stating “BCS remains confident that its actions were appropriate, transparent, and aligned with both athlete welfare and the integrity of the sport.”
Katie Uhlaender filed a complaint with the sport’s ruling body and that was denied… Without even contacting individuals who were involved. By most accounts, there was no investigation at all.
Despite being blackballed by the ruling body, Katie Uhlaender has found support from other countries. She told CNN “the only thing that brings me warmth in my heart, and hope – and lit a fire under my butt that you could equate to the Olympic flame – is that my community is coming together. We’re trying to be heard.”
Uhlaender says the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) did not respond to her filed complaint with any evidence whatsoever. They simply dismissed her. In turn, she is calling the IBSF’s investigation flawed.
Katie says “they didn’t reach out to any of the affected parties, not even afterwards, to make sure anyone was okay, and it makes the community feel isolated from the governance. I think this is an opportunity for us to all come together.”
If there is one thing I have learned from South Park it is: Blame Canada. She would be headed to the 2026 Winter Olympics if it was not for the shady antics of this coach pulling athletes out at the last minute to reduce the strength of the competition.
According to the latest report from CNN, “at least a dozen” nations other than the United States have rallied to support her, including Denmark. The USOPC’s Chief of Sport and Athlete Services, Rocky Harris, wrote a letter to the IOC stating “Ms. Uhlaender is the epitome of what it means to be an Olympian and truly embodies the Olympic spirit. … Allowing her to compete in Milano Cortina will deter others from engaging in unsporting conduct and ensure fair competition.”
Can J.D. Vance Get Katie Uhlaender Into The Olympics?
Now it will seemingly come down to U.S. VP J.D. Vance leading the Team USA delegation. He has sway and leverage.
The United States will host the next Summer Olympic Games. If the IOC wants things to go smoothly, and presumably they do, J.D. Vance will be able to lean on them to do the right thing here and admit Katie Uhlaender into the Winter Games.
In the meantime, the investigation into the coach of Team Canada’s shady tactics needs to be revisited. Is this all because a Canadian team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup in 32+ years as was asked on Barstool Sports? Less petty things have happened in Sports. I wouldn’t be surprised.