SafeSport Center 'in potential crisis' according to panel's survey of Olympic system

A wide-ranging survey into the state of the U.S. Olympic system leveled criticism at the U.S. Center for SafeSport, with a draft report concluding that feedback collected about the 6-year-old agency "paints a picture of a center in potential crisis."

A wide-ranging survey into the state of the U.S. Olympic system leveled criticism at the U.S. Center for SafeSport, with a draft report concluding that feedback collected about the 6-year-old agency "paints a picture of a center in potential crisis."

SafeSport Center CEO Ju'Riese Colon was among the Olympic leaders who testified Wednesday at a hearing held by the Congressionally appointed Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics, which produced the survey that will be used to craft recommendations for possible changes to the Olympic system.

Colon painted an overall positive picture of the Denver-based center that Congress formed in 2017 to deal with abuse allegations in Olympic sports. She pointed to the 1,900 people who have been sanctioned and listed on the center's disciplinary database.

"And we have pioneered a shift to a safer sports culture over the last six years," she said at the hearing in Washington.

Her testimony was followed by presentations from a group of advocates critical of the center.

Grace French, a survivor of former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar who founded The Army of Survivors advocacy group, said many athletes who reported abuse to the center "didn't understand what the process was."

"And there was a loss of trust throughout that process," she said.