The Southern California News Group has learned that Lolo Jones, the world champion bobsledder for Team USA, has been allowed to return to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, almost five months after she was barred from the facility after a verbal altercation with a member of the center’s sports medicine staff after she was refused authorized medical treatment.
On July 3, a USOPC lawyer told Jones, a two-time world track and field and bobsled champion, that if USABS asked for her access, she would have access to housing, the weight room, sports medicine staff and facilities, and a training table/nutrition for a USA Bobsled and Skeleton high performance camp at the OPTC beginning July 24.
According to USOC and USABS documents obtained by the SCNG and interviews with five people familiar with the case, the USOPC letter arrived seven months before Jones hopes to compete in a fourth Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, eight weeks after she requested a mediation hearing with the USOPC, and one day before the deadline to apply for the high performance camp.
Even though USOPC authorities admitted that Jones was wrongfully denied medical treatment late on the afternoon of February 28, a decision that led to the verbal altercation, her suspension has persisted. Jones, a USABS official, and three other individuals with knowledge of the case said the USOPC did not speak with eyewitnesses.
RELATED: SPECIAL REPORT: Olympic Training Center bans Lolo Jones
The suspension of Jones, 42, is described by several Olympians, Team USA members, and a USA BS official as being disproportionate, capricious, retaliatory, and based on little to no inquiry by USOPC officials. Jones and her allies argue that the case also calls into question the quality of medical care that American Olympic hopefuls are receiving at the OPTC in Lake Placid.
According to Jones’ Orange County-based lawyer John Manly, this case is a stark illustration of the necessity for a comprehensive reform of the USOPC’s medical system.
According to Manly, Sarah Hirschland, the CEO of the USOPC, is at the very top of the Olympic committee and made the decision to suspend and not lift it.
Several attempts for comment have not received a response from the USOPC.
Manly was particularly scathing of Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general and a member of the USOPC board.
“After Nassar, the USOPC has made a big deal about how we care for athletes,” Manly stated. Actually, nothing has changed. Murthy has not actively contributed to the understanding of the reasons behind the poor quality of the USOPC medical system. No competent person would believe that this is acceptable if they genuinely cared about the USOPC’s objective, which was established by Congress and is to care for athletes.
Questions were addressed to the USOPC by Murthy’s office.
According to USOPC documents obtained by the SCNG and interviews with Jones and four other individuals familiar with the case, Jones has been denied access to training facilities under the USOPC suspension, including the center’s weight room, sports medicine clinic and staff, as well as housing and nutritional resources during a crucial training period. Jones claimed that the suspension has put her bid to compete in what would be her second Winter Olympics and fourth overall in jeopardy due to competitive, financial, and emotional barriers. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, the former LSU track and field standout participated in the 100-meter hurdles.
According to Manly, Jones has spent about $100,000 on training and medical costs as a result of the suspension. Since the ban, Jones has been training at LSU, where she won an NCAA hurdles title.
According to OPTC emails and interviews, the two-time world bobsled champion, who was experiencing extreme pain and incontinence due to a back injury sustained during training, was first barred from the OPTC sports medicine area on March 1. This was a day after she verbally referred to John Faltus, a senior official at the USOPC Medical Clinic at the training center, as a terrible person after a previously scheduled treatment was abruptly canceled days before the World Championships in Lake Placid. In an interview with SCNG, Jones said that she cursed at Faltus.
Additionally, Faltus claims that Jones made a lewd gesture in his direction, a claim that Jones disputes.
Julie Marra, the director of the USOPC Training Center in Lake Placid, sent Jones an email on March 1 stating that this conduct is a clear violation of the OPTC Code of Conduct. I want to be clear that this behavior is wrong and will not be accepted.
However, according to papers and five persons with knowledge of the issue, Marra did not specifically mention a code violation in the email or later. Only one short passage in the code—”Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated, including but not limited to, the following: Any act of violation of offenses, as listed in the USOPC Background Check Policy or adjudicated of federal, state, or local laws”—comes close to directly addressing verbal altercations or swearing.
A USABS official admitted that the OPTC code is arbitrary.
“No one has told me who found me in violation, what exact rule or code I broke, or what part of the Code of Conduct was allegedly violated,” Jones stated in an email to SCNG.
Several attempts for feedback have not received a response from Marra or Faltus.
“We would be in serious trouble if we banned every Olympic athlete who used an F-bomb,” Manly added.
In accordance with OPTC practice, Jones’s back problem was diagnosed and treated by OPTC trainer Ben Towne, who scheduled a massage appointment with the sports medical clinic. However, Jones was notified that her appointment had been abruptly canceled when she arrived at the clinic on February 28.
Starting on July 24, Towne will serve as Jones’ primary liaison with the OPTC sports medical clinic.
Jones stated: “I have never received a written explanation for why I was denied medical treatment,” despite being informed that Faltus canceled the treatment because she was only allowed to one massage per week and had already received one that week. Considering that I was recuperating from an injury I received while playing for Team USA, this is particularly concerning. Despite their claims to promote athlete health, the USOPC did not fulfill their duty of care in this instance.
Manly stated that one of our best Olympians would have a 50-minute massage once a week. You have an MRI if you are injured while incarcerated. The USOPC’s medical system is literally inferior to the federal prison system’s. What are we doing?
Are Olympians treated better than prisoners?
Following the World Championships, Jones paid for an MRI, which showed that she had tears in her L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae, as well as spinal fluid pouring out of them, along with a herniated disc and disc bulge.
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