Federal commission to offer major changes for athlete safety - ESPN

The system for safeguarding athletes in U.S. Olympic sports might be on the cusp of a major revamp, with an independent commission set to propose sweeping changes and lawmakers saying they are standing by to act.

The congressionally appointed commission has finished its two-year study of how the system has worked and is set to publish its findings this spring. The commission's two co-chairs told ESPN that they will make recommendations on at least three major issues: the scope of the U.S. Olympic system's governing body, which spans elite Olympic athletes and youth sports; athlete representation in decision-making positions throughout sports institutions; and the frequent concerns they heard about the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

The commission's co-chairs, Dionne Koller and Han Xiao, called their work a «once-in-a-lifetime» chance to «reconceptualize» how amateur sports are organized.

«It will be up to Congress to take the next steps, which we hope will include new legislation based on our recommendations,» they said in written answers to questions from ESPN.

Several members of Congress have already told ESPN that they are eager to craft legislation with the aim of protecting America's athletes.

On the heels of major sexual abuse cases in Olympic sports, Congress passed a pair of laws in 2017 and 2020 that empowered SafeSport, a nonprofit based in Denver, with the sole authority to adjudicate complaints of sexual abuse and other misconduct for all sports that fall under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's purview. Since then, the 7-year-old organization has struggled to gain the trust of athletes.

In February 2022, ESPN published an 18-month investigation that painted a portrait of an organization hampered by