Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others in positions of power over women on the U.S. Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and other biathletes.
While the men involved climbed the sport's ranks, these women told The Associated Press they were forced to end racing careers early.
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In this 2009 photo provided by Karen Gorman, biathlete Grace Boutot, left, of Fort Kent, Maine, displays her silver medal from the Youth Women Biathlon World Championships, while standing with coach Gary Colliander, right, in Fort Kent. (Karen Gorman via AP)
In this 2010 photo provided by Julia Bayly biathlete Grace Boutot practices at the 10th Mountain Ski Center in Fort Kent, Maine. (Julia Bayly via AP)
Grace Boutot, who won a silver medal in the Youth World Championships in 2009, displays targets from her time as a biathlon competitor, at her home in Boston, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Grace Boutot, who won a silver medal in the Youth World Championships in 2009, displays a few of her medals from competitions, Oct. 17, 2024, at her home in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE — Joanne Reid, left, of the United States, and compatriot Deedra Irwin embrace at the finish line during the women's 4 x 6 km relay race at the biathlon World Cup in Anterselva, Italy, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Joanne Reid, left, of the United States, shoots during the women's 4x6 km relay competition at the IBU World Biathlon Championships, in Ostersund, Sweden, March 16, 2019. (Jessica Gow/TT via AP, File)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder skis at the Meissner Nordic Community Ski Area within the Deschutes National Forest on Nov. 22, 2024, in Deschutes County near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder looks at memorabilia at her home on Nov. 22, 2024, in Bend, Ore., including an image of her competing at bottom right. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder poses for a photo at her home on Nov. 22, 2024, in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
This combination of images shows Joan Wilder on Nov. 22, 2024, Grace Boutot on Oct. 17, 2024, and Joanne Reid on Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, Steven Senne, Darko Bandic)
“My safety on the team was clearly secondary,” said two-time Olympian Joan Wilder, 58, who said her coach got away with trying to sexually assault her in 1990 despite her complaints to then-U.S. Biathlon official Max Cobb.
Cobb, who the women say was informed but failed to address several claims, went from U.S. domestic team manager to U.S. Biathlon Association CEO and is now secretary general of the International Biathlon Union, the worldwide governing body of the sport, which combines cross-country skiing with target shooting.
The women came forward after AP reported that Olympian Joanne Reid was sexually abused and harassed for years, according to findings by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, created to investigate sex-abuse allegations in Olympic sports in the Larry Nassar gymnastics scandal's aftermath.
The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse except in cases where they publicly identify themselves or share their stories openly, as these women have.
Cobb denied allegations of failing to act. “During my 33 years at U.S. Biathlon, athlete safety was always fundamental to me and I can't recall ever hearing from athletes or others that my efforts in this regard were not appropriate,” he said via email to AP.
Cobb declined to be interviewed by AP, saying it would violate SafeSport's code.
However, an investigation ordered by U.S. Biathlon into team culture and safety following AP's report found biathletes faced “misogynistic” behavior while racing and feared retaliation over coming forward.
Biathlon is the only winter sport with no U.S. Olympic medals. Desperate to excel, U.S. officials hired European coaches and staff, and turned a blind eye when women raised their claims, those interviewed said.
In 1990, to prepare for the first-ever women’s Olympic biathlon race, U.S. officials hired German biathlete Walter Pichler to coach.
During training camp that year, the team went out one night. Then 20-year-old Wilder said she went to bed early and woke to someone on her back — Pichler trying to force her to have sex, she said in a complaint to SafeSport.
Pichler denied trying to sexually assault Wilder. “This is unbelievable,” he told AP. “I always had a super relationship with Joanie, or with all the athletes, all the female, the men athletes.”
Wilder said she reported it to then-team manager Cobb. He “didn’t consider it discipline-worthy,” she said.
Wilder said in her SafeSport complaint that she faced retaliation for pressing the issue of firing Pichler.
She was temporarily bumped from the 1994 Olympic team, then dropped from the national team before the 1998 Olympics without being told — putting her health insurance at risk.
She called Cobb.
“Max ended the conversation with, ‘Well, if you write a letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee and say that you’re resigning from biathlon, I’ll extend your medical insurance,’” she told AP.
She decided she didn’t have any fight left, and left the sport.
Grace Boutot grew up near the Maine Winter Sports Center's Nordic ski facility, used by U.S. Biathlon.
In 2003, Boutot, then 12, was recruited into the program. She started racing in 2004 and, at 15, began training with new coach Gary Colliander.
Colliander gave her much coaching attention and hugs, she said. His attention increased over time, she said, with him inviting her to his home, massaging her legs, and rubbing her back and buttocks.
It escalated after she turned 18 to “kissing, sexual fondling and oral sex,” according to a treatment summary by therapist Jacqueline Pauli-Ritz, shared with AP.
Boutot said she begged him to stop but Colliander ignored her.
She became severely depressed and started cutting herself, according to Pauli-Ritz's notes. In September 2010, Pauli-Ritz contacted Colliander and told him he should stop coaching Boutot, the treatment summary said.
“He did not do this until after the suicide attempt,” Pauli-Ritz wrote, referring to Boutot's 2010 overdose on antidepressants at training camp.
The next day, Colliander resigned. He took a coaching job in Colorado and was hired in December 2016 by the U.S. Paralympic team.
Colliander didn't respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment.
In October 2010, Boutot informed the Maine Winter Sports Center about Colliander's abuse, according to a letter she sent the center’s board. But, she said, there was no investigation.
Boutot said she also faced abuse by then-U.S. Biathlon junior team coach Vladimir Cervenka of the Czech Republic, starting in 2007.
When she won a silver medal at the 2009 Youth World Championships, Cervenka grabbed her, she said.
“He forcibly kissed me and groped my entire body, smothering me and crushing me until he was pulled off of me by our team masseuse,” she said of Cervenka, who was 26 years older.
Cervenka denied Boutot's claims.
“I absolutely did not kiss her or grope her body,” he told AP via email.
Boutot reported Cervenka's alleged abuse twice to U.S. Biathlon officials, including in a January 2011 email to Cobb and a U.S. Biathlon board member in which she also expressed concern about Cervenka's inappropriate contact with other young teammates and her worries about retaliation. In the email exchange, she was told the issues were serious, but she had to make her complaint public so Cervenka could defend himself.
Boutot said she expected them to investigate: "I told them of the abuse, and they never took me seriously.”
Boutot faced retaliation by the Maine Winter Sports Center, she said in a 2011 complaint to the Maine Human Rights Commission.
The center settled for $75,000. Boutot quit racing.
SafeSport has ordered a new investigation into whether Reid was retaliated against for exposing the abuse she endured to the watchdog group. SafeSport spokeswoman Hilary Nemchik said she couldn't comment on the ongoing case.
SafeSport investigates claims even when the legal statute of limitations has expired.
Wilder said she didn’t know she had that option and has now filed a complaint, naming Cobb and Pichler.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Martha Bellisle is an amateur biathlete who has won several U.S. national and world championship gold medals in the master’s division for competitors 60 and older. She has competed at local races across the country sanctioned by the U.S. Biathlon Association.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
In this 2009 photo provided by Karen Gorman, biathlete Grace Boutot, left, of Fort Kent, Maine, displays her silver medal from the Youth Women Biathlon World Championships, while standing with coach Gary Colliander, right, in Fort Kent. (Karen Gorman via AP)
In this 2010 photo provided by Julia Bayly biathlete Grace Boutot practices at the 10th Mountain Ski Center in Fort Kent, Maine. (Julia Bayly via AP)
Grace Boutot, who won a silver medal in the Youth World Championships in 2009, displays targets from her time as a biathlon competitor, at her home in Boston, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Grace Boutot, who won a silver medal in the Youth World Championships in 2009, displays a few of her medals from competitions, Oct. 17, 2024, at her home in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FILE — Joanne Reid, left, of the United States, and compatriot Deedra Irwin embrace at the finish line during the women's 4 x 6 km relay race at the biathlon World Cup in Anterselva, Italy, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Joanne Reid, left, of the United States, shoots during the women's 4x6 km relay competition at the IBU World Biathlon Championships, in Ostersund, Sweden, March 16, 2019. (Jessica Gow/TT via AP, File)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder skis at the Meissner Nordic Community Ski Area within the Deschutes National Forest on Nov. 22, 2024, in Deschutes County near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder looks at memorabilia at her home on Nov. 22, 2024, in Bend, Ore., including an image of her competing at bottom right. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two-time Olympian Joan Wilder poses for a photo at her home on Nov. 22, 2024, in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
This combination of images shows Joan Wilder on Nov. 22, 2024, Grace Boutot on Oct. 17, 2024, and Joanne Reid on Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, Steven Senne, Darko Bandic)
Iran eased some restrictions on its people and, for the first time in days, allowed them to make phone calls abroad via their mobile phones on Tuesday. It did not ease restrictions on the internet or permit texting services to be restored as the death toll from days of bloody protests against the state rose to at least 2,000 people, according to activists.
Although Iranians were able to call abroad, people outside the country could not call them, several people in the capital told The Associated Press.
The witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said SMS text messaging still was down and internet users inside Iran could not access anything abroad, although there were local connections to government-approved websites.
It was unclear if restrictions would ease further after authorities cut off all communications inside the country and to the outside world late Thursday.
Here is the latest:
A senior Iranian official responded Tuesday to Trump’s latest threat to intervene in deadly protests, saying that the U.S. and Israel will be the ones responsible for the death of Iranian civilians.
Shortly after Trump’s social media post urging Iranians to “take over” government institutions, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, posted on X: “We declare the names of the real killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday the threats “categorically unacceptable.”
The ministry warned in a statement that any such strikes would have “disastrous consequences” for the situation in the Middle East and global security. It also criticized what it called “brazen attempts to blackmail Iran’s foreign partners by raising trade tariffs.”
The statement noted that the protests in Iran had been triggered by social and economic problems resulting from Western sanctions. It also denounced “hostile external forces” for trying to “exploit the resulting growing social tension to destabilize and destroy the Iranian state” and charged that “specially trained and armed provocateurs acting on instructions from abroad” sought to provoke violence.
The ministry voiced hope that the situation in Iran will gradually stabilize and advised Russian citizens in the Islamic Republic not to visit crowded places.
The TV report said the country had ‘a lot of martyrs’ in the nationwide protests and quoted Ahmad Mousavi, the head of the Martyrs Foundation.
The anchor read a statement that laid blame on “armed and terrorist groups, which led the country to present a lot of martyrs to God.”
The acknowledgment came after activists put the death toll at at least 2,003 people killed.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry says it summoned the Iranian ambassador in Berlin on Tuesday to protest the crackdown against demonstrators.
The ministry wrote in a social media post that “the Iranian regime’s brutal action against its own population is shocking.” It called on Iran to end the use of violence against its own people and “respect their rights.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned the Iranian ambassador Tuesday to denounce Iran’s repression of protesters, which Barrot called “intolerable, unbearable, and inhumane.″
Addressing lawmakers at France’s National Assembly, Barrot said that France “condemned the repression in the strongest possible terms, denouncing this state violence that was unleashed blindly upon peaceful protesters.”
“I have conveyed this condemnation to the Iranian foreign minister and it will be reiterated to the Iranian ambassador to France, whom I summoned today to the Foreign Ministry,” he added.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans for “full and further sanctions” against Iran that target finance, energy, transport and other significant industries after the Foreign Office summoned the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to explain the nation’s response to recent protests.
Cooper told the House of Commons on Tuesday that a “desperate regime,’’ must not be allowed to undermine a “genuine grassroots movement’’ which has spread through many regions and all parts of society.
“And that is why we and other governments across the world are determined not to play into the hands of the regime or to allow our words or actions to be twisted to support their lies and propaganda,’’ she said.
“The world is watching Iran, and the UK will continue to confront the regime’s lies, to call out its repression and to take the steps necessary to protect the UK’s interests.”
The American president said he canceled meetings with Iranian officials, telling protesters, ‘help is on its way,’ without giving details.
Trump did not offer any details about what the help would entail, but it came after he said earlier this week Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after a threat to strike the Islamic Republic.
Trump’s latest message on social media appeared to make an abrupt shift in his willingness to engage with the Iranian government.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” Trump wrote in on Truth Social. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the new sanctions will be imposed on Iranian officials over the crackdown on protestors.
“The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive use of force and continued restriction of freedom,” von der Leyen said in a post on social media.
She said that in cooperation with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas “further sanctions on those responsible for the repression will be swiftly proposed. We stand with the people of Iran who are bravely marching for their liberty.”
The EU has already imposed sanctions on members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and others over past concerns about human rights abuses in Iran.
Kaja Kallas said in Berlin Tuesday that the Iranian government might go the way of former President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, which fell swiftly in late 2024 in a “surprise for everybody.” But she added that “very often these regimes are very, very resilient.”
Kallas said that “right now … it is not clear whether the regime is going to fall or not.” She said it would ultimately have to be up to the Iranian people to make decisions.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years, gave the latest death toll on Tuesday.
It said 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated.
This came a day after the European Parliament announced it would ban Iranian diplomats and representatives.
“Iran does not seek enmity with the EU, but will reciprocate any restriction,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Tuesday on X.
He also criticized the European Parliament for not taking any significant action against Israel for the more than two-year war in Gaza that has killed more than 71,400 Palestinians, while banning Iranian diplomats after just “a few days of violent riots.”
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said he summoned Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands “to formally protest the excessive violence against peaceful protesters, large-scale arbitrary arrests, and internet shutdowns, calling for immediate restoration of internet access inside the Islamic Republic.
In a post on X, Weel also said the Dutch government supports EU sanctions against “human rights violators in Iran.”
The United Nations human rights chief is calling on Iranian authorities to immediately halt violence and repression against peaceful protesters, citing reports of hundreds killed and thousands arrested in a wave of demonstrations in recent weeks.
“The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday.
Alluding to a wave of protests in Iran in 2022, Türk said demonstrators have sought “fundamental changes” to governance in the country, “and once again, the authorities’ reaction is to inflict brutal force to repress legitimate demands for change.”
“This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue,” he added.
It was also “extremely worrying” to hear some public statements from judicial officials mentioning the prospect of the use of the death penalty against protesters through expedited judicial proceedings, Türk said.
“Iranians have the right to demonstrate peacefully. Their grievances need to be heard and addressed, and not instrumentalized by anyone,” Türk said.
Finland’s foreign minister says she is summoning the Iranian ambassador after authorities in Tehran restricted internet access.
“Iran’s regime has shut down the internet to be able to kill and oppress in silence," Elina Valtonen wrote in a social media post Tuesday, adding, “this will not be tolerated. We stand with the people of Iran — women and men alike.”
Finland is “exploring measures to help restore freedom to the Iranian people” together with the European Union, Valtonen said.
Separately, Finnish police said they believe at least two people entered the courtyard of the Iranian embassy in Helsinki without permission Monday afternoon and tore down the Iranian flag. The embassy’s outer wall was also daubed with paint.
Iranian security forces arrested what a state television report described as “terrorist groups” linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried U.S.-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate hailed people who have “long warned about this repression, at great personal risk.”
“The protests in Iran cannot be separated from the long-standing, state-imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s autonomy, in all aspects of public life including education. Iranian girls, like girls everywhere, demand a life with dignity,” Yousafzai wrote on X.
“(Iran’s) future must be driven by the Iranian people, and include the leadership of Iranian women and girls — not external forces or oppressive regimes,” she added.
Yousafzai was awarded the peace prize in 2014 at the age of 17 for her fight for girls’ education in her home country, Pakistan. She is the youngest Nobel laureate.
The French Foreign Ministry said it has “reconfigured” its embassy in Tehran after reports that the facility's nonessential staff left Iran earlier this week.
The embassy's nonessential staff left the country Sunday and Monday, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported.
The ambassador remained on site and the embassy continued to function, the ministry said late Monday night.
Associated Press writer Angela Charlton contributed from Paris.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the Iranian government is in its “final days and weeks,” as he renewed a call for Iranian authorities to end violence against demonstrators immediately.
“If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end,” Merz said Tuesday during a visit to Bengaluru, India. “I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime. In any case, it has no legitimacy through elections in the population. The population is now rising up against this regime.”
Merz said he hoped there is “a possibility to end this conflict peacefully," adding that Germany is in close contact with the U.S. and European governments.
The Israeli military said it continues to be “on alert for surprise scenarios” due to the ongoing protests in Iran, but has not made any changes to guidelines for civilians, as it does prior to a concrete threat.
“The protests in Iran are an internal matter,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin wrote on X.
Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear program over the summer, resulting in a 12-day war that killed nearly 1,200 Iranians and almost 30 Israelis. Over the past week, Iran has threatened to attack Israel if Israel or the U.S. attacks.
Mobile phones in Iran were able to call abroad Tuesday after a crackdown on nationwide protests in which the internet and international calls were cut. Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press.
The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back.
Witnesses said the internet remained cut off from the outside world. Iran cut off the internet and calls on Thursday as protests intensified.
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdownon the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
Protesters hold up placards and flags as they demonstrate outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
People attend a rally in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
