Canadian bobsleigh, skeleton athletes repeat calls to sports minister to improve toxic culture

More than 90 current and retired Canadian bobsled and skeleton athletes are repeating calls to federal sport minister Pascale St-Onge to help clean up what they say is a toxic climate in their sport.

The athletes say systemic issues have plagued BCS for the eight years since Storey was elected, and that they have gone unacknowledged by the organization.

They included a 24-page collection of issues and lived or observed athlete experiences, which was presented to BCS's board of directors.

The letter included detailed findings from a recent review and evaluation of BCS completed by external consultant Nick Bass, the high performance advisor for Own the Podium.

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The athletes say the current participation at the national and grassroots level in both bobsled and skeleton is "concerningly low," and noted that in 2019 bobsled saw the departure of three-time Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries to the U.S.

The letter comes amid what St-Onge has called a safe sport "crisis" in Canada.

Hockey Canada has been mired in sexual assault allegations that has seen numerous sponsors withdraw their support and St-Onge freeze their federal funding.

The bobsled and skeleton letter asks St-Onge to look beyond funding freezes to influence change, as that would only exacerbate the negative effects to athletes.

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