MILAN (AP) — The IOC showed no interest Wednesday in putting pressure on 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chair Casey Wasserman over personal emails released in the latest Jeffrey Epstein files.
Wasserman has faced calls from lawmakers and those in political circles in L.A. to step down as chair of the city’s Olympic project he has led since it was first a hosting candidate 11 years ago.
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry was asked Wednesday if Wasserman was still the right person to oversee the next Summer Games in light of flirtatious emails in 2003 exchanged with Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
“From the IOC point of view, the (organizing committee) and how they are structured is not something we are going to get involved into,” Coventry said.
The IOC leader spoke at a news conference one day after she shared a stage with Wasserman when the L.A. organizing team updated Olympic officials on their hosting plans.
“He has put out a statement and there is really nothing else for me to add,” Coventry said.
In the statement Saturday, Wasserman said “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” which he said was “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors, and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Wasserman is expected to remain in Milan with his L.A. team until after the opening ceremony of the Winter Games on Friday evening.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Casey Wasserman, Chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games speaks with IOC President Kirsty Coventry, during an IOC meeting ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Casey Wasserman, Chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games speaks during an IOC meeting ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — In the end, the fall Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris took might not have been as bad as it looked.
A team official who witnessed the spill in big air training for the Milan Cortina Olymipcs said McMorris, a three-time Olympic bronze medalist, was released from the hospital “right away” after being taken off on a stretcher Wednesday night.
Canada Snowboard vice president Brendan Matthews called it standard protocol to load a rider onto a stretcher after an accident and said McMorris would be evaluated a few hours before the start of Thursday night's big air qualifying. If he can't compete in that, Matthews said McMorris would definitely be ready to go for slopestyle, which starts Feb. 16.
“It’s always looks scary when somebody takes a hard fall like that, but all things considered, it’s good news," Matthews said. "Mark wishes to thank everybody for the outpouring of support and concern. We just didn’t have any specific details last night to be able to share.”
In big air, riders do four, five or more spins after taking off from a ramp that, in Livigno, is more than 50 meters (165 feet) tall and built on scaffolding.
Matthews said McMorris caught a heel edge on loose snow after he landed and “had a hard fall.” He lay motionless for about a minute while the medical team rushed out. He was conscious as he was being placed on the stretcher.
“It’s pretty standard protocol to be assisted off the hill just to make sure that they’re doing everything by the book," Matthews said. “So Mark was assisted off the slope yesterday, he was taken with our medical team and the Canadian Olympic Committee medical team to the local hospital for a full round of testing.”
Though others — Max Parrot and Sebastien Toutant — have won Olympic gold medals and McMorris has not, he might be the best-known member on the successful Canadian snowboard team. He has a record 22 X Games medals, 12 of them gold. Eight of those have come in slopestyle and the other four in big air.
This is hardly McMorris' first brush with a bad crash.
He suffered life-threatening injuries after slamming into a tree during a backcountry ride in 2017. He has had a rod placed in his leg, a plate in his arm and another in his jaw as the result of that and numerous other injuries over the years.
Last month, he told The Associated Press that he was in good health heading into the first Olympics in his 30s.
“I've been feeling pretty good, staying strong and putting quite a bit of effort in the gym to build a robust frame,” he said, “because what we do can be a little tricky at times on the body.”
Matthews said it was jarring to see the accident.
“You don’t like to see anybody fall, let alone somebody of the stature of Mark," he said. "And you know, if it’s Mark, and he’s not getting up right away, he’s taken a pretty hard fall, because he’s as tough as they come.”
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Milan contributed to this report.
Canada's Mark McMorris crashes during a snowboard big air training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Canada's Mark McMorris reacts after crashing during a snowboard big air training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Medical personnel stretcher Canada's Mark McMorris off after crashing during a snowboard big air training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
People tend to Canada's Mark McMorris after crashing during a snowboard big air training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
