Canada overhauls skeleton staff, appoints Joe Cecchini head coach and technical lead

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton has named Joe Cecchini, Kevin Boyer and Micaela Widmer as its newest coaches for the national skeleton program.

Cecchini will take on the dual role of head coach and technical lead.

After beginning his skeleton career on Canada's development team from 2006-2012, he went on to compete for Italy at the 2018 Olympics. Cecchini has also worked privately with many of Canada's skeleton athletes over the last two years as a club and international coach at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Boyer will serve as an assistant technical coach. He represented Canada at the 2018 Olympics and was a member of the national skeleton program for 10 years.

Widmer is set to be team manager of the program and technical coach to North America's Cup development level athletes. She spent over a decade as a competitive skeleton athlete, competing internationally for both Canada and Switzerland.

Widmer has worked with Cecchini over the last five years as the program lead on all foundational driving schools at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Last November, Calgary sport physiologist Tara McNeil ran unopposed in becoming president of the embattled sport organization as Sarah Storey did not run for a third term.

Over 70 athletes had been calling for Storey's resignation since March 2022 amid what they've called a toxic environment of maltreatment within the organization.

In a letter to then-federal Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge, the athletes said systemic issues have plagued BCS for the eight years since Storey was elected.

"These issues continue to go unacknowledged and unresolved by the organization," they wrote. "In this time, we have seen the increasing deterioration across both sports of day-to-day operations, athlete