KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During our reporting on the U.S. Center for SafeSport, the I-Team talked to more than 40 people — including athletes, coaches, attorneys, parents, police, college professors as well as current and former officials with the national governing bodies of several Olympic sports.
We also reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including:
- Lawsuits that named the U.S. Center for SafeSport, Olympic sports' governing bodies and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, or USOPC;
- Tax records for SafeSport, USOPC and Olympic sports' governing bodies;
- Emails between a former Olympic athlete, SafeSport and an Olympic sports' governing body;
- Correspondences between Olympic sports' governing bodies and SafeSport;
- Federal laws involving SafeSport;
- Minutes from SafeSport Board Meetings
- Incorporation records for the Colorado-based U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The I-Team also reached out to the USOPC for comment, but received no response to our inquiries.
We also contacted lawmakers who sponsored legislation related to the Center for SafeSport, including the Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019. That bill, signed into law in October 2020, requires the USOPC to provide $20 million in annual funding to the center.
One of those lawmakers is Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican.
He declined our request for an on-camera interview but sent an email stating: “Sen. (Richard) Blumenthal and I authored legislation to establish clear reporting requirements for allegations of abuse to help protect athletes. While the changes enacted by this law are designed to identify and address abuse, our work is not over.”
Moran added, “We will continue to provide necessary oversight to make certain SafeSport is operating as it should within the law, properly enacting the reforms we put in place and, if needed, updating the rules.”
Moran said it will take time for the center to add additional staff to “work through the thousands of claims they receive and continue to receive, some of which date back decades.”
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The KSHB 41 I-Team conduced a four-part investigation into Center for SafeSport. You can read our coverage at the links below:
Part 1 | Sexual-abuse survivors demand accountability for predators in Olympic sports
Part 2 | Survivors recount claims of abuse at hands of coaches
Part 3 | Missouri boxing coach goes rounds with SafeSport after incorrect addition to database
Part 4 | Protecting young athletes from predators in sports
Explainer | Explaining what went into KSHB 41 News I-Team's reporting on US Center for SafeSport
Explainer | I-Team surveys NGBs about Center for SafeSport
