The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) on Monday revoked accreditation for Rana Reider, the coach of Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse, after three women accused him of sexual abuse. Reider, 54, coaches both De Grasse, who is the defending Olympic 200-m champion and has won six Olympic medals, and Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, 100-m gold medal defendant. The New York Times on Sunday reported three female athletes filed sex abuse lawsuits against Reider. The COC said “new information” has surfaced surrounding the initial accreditation of Reider. .“Rana Reider was accredited as a personal coach, with access only to the athletics warm-up area and training venues,” wrote the CIC in a statement. “The decision to provide him with that access was based on the understanding that his probation with the US Center for Safe Sport ended in May this year, that he had no other suspensions or sanctions, and otherwise met our eligibility requirements.”“On Sunday August 4th we learned of new information about the appropriateness of Mr. Reider remaining accredited by Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Games.”“In discussion with Athletics Canada, it was agreed that Mr Reider’s accreditation be revoked.”Two of the women in the lawsuit accused the Californian coach of repeated sexual and emotional abuse, the Times reported. The third athlete accused him of sexual and verbal harassment. One of the women accused him of “grooming” her when she was a minor. Reider was put on a one-year probation until May 2024, after he admitted to having a “consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete, which presented a power imbalance.”Reider’s lawyer, Ryan Stevens, at the time said the coach had “credibly and consistently denied all other allegations of sexual misconduct.”During Safe Sport’s investigation, which opened in November 2021, UK Athletics warned athletes to “cease all association” with Reider, who was denied accreditation at the last two World Championships.
