'We were within the rules,’ Canadian skeleton coach denies sabotaging U.S. slider

This wasn’t the Olympic build-up Joe Cecchini envisioned.

The Canadian skeleton coach and 2018 Italian Olympian was preparing to gear up for a convergence of his worlds at Milano Cortina 2026.

Then, allegations surfaced that he manipulated a race on the developmental circuit to ensure Canada’s spots at the Olympics, ultimately preventing American Katie Uhlaender from competing in a record sixth Games.

“On me personally, this has been horrible. I never expected a decision like this within the ruleset at a development circuit to cause such a scenario,” Cecchini told CBC Sports in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

“I feel really bad for the athletes in trying to understand why people are so potentially angry. There's a voice from an athlete who's been in multiple Olympics and is carrying a certain clout. And it's been really hard and it has challenged myself, my staff.”

The IBSF, skeleton’s international governing body, found no wrongdoing on Cecchini’s part after four Canadian athletes withdrew from a competition in January in Lake Placid, N.Y., which affected the points available at the race. The International Olympic Committee denied Uhlaender a wild-card spot upon appeal.

An independent tribunal dismissed Uhlaender’s complaint on Wednesday, while noting “that the action of the Canadians was intentional and directed to reducing the points available to athletes who slid at the final Lake Placid [North American Cup].”

On Friday, Uhlaender filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, claiming she was unfairly prevented from earning her Olympic spot.

Canada’s skeleton team denies Olympic sabotage allegations

The appeal also found that the withdrawals ultimately did not affect the number of quota spots each