Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[Ms Bumblebee]

@Colonel Green can you explain what happened to the second complaint mentioned in the decision, the one around alleged retaliation in 2024? The decision mentions both complaints, but it's not clear to me whether the sanction was for both complaints. The question of retroactivity shouldn't be relevant to the 2024 complaint because UCCMS was in place by then, and presumably the applicant would have signed the standard athlete agreement agreeing to follow the safe sport rules based on UCCMS.

I think the March 6th 2024 incident is this
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sport...xual-assault-world-championships/73055621007/

The attorney for the alleged sexual assault victim of Canadian Olympic figure skater Nikolaj Sørensen told USA TODAY Sports Thursday that comments recently made by Sørensen amount to “retaliation” against the victim that should have resulted in his suspension from this week’s world championships.

At a Skate Canada media availability March 6, when asked about the allegations against him and the resulting investigation by Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, Sørensen told reporters that he thought the “intention” of the victim of the alleged sexual assault was to “damage” him.
“When something like that comes out in the media, the damage is kind of done and I think that was the intention more than anything,” Sørensen said. He has denied the allegations.

Rule 5.14.2 of OSIC’s Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport which says “retaliation includes threatening, intimidating, harassing, coercing, negatively interfering with sport participation, or any other conduct that would discourage a reasonable person from engaging or participating in an investigation or disciplinary review process…”

Edit. Added a quote from the article about OSIC Rule 5.14.2 regarding retaliation

 

[SnowQueen11]

The whole Sorensen thing wasn’t sitting well with me. I remembered that Sorensen was skating with Vanessa Crone at the time of the incident. I believe she only ever wanted to skate for Canada so I did some Googling and found this article confirming my suspicion:


Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen: “We’re in it for the long haul” | Inside Skating

https://www.insideskating.net/2017/...nikolaj-sorensen-were-in-it-for-the-long-haul


Here are some quotes:


Sorensen makes this statement:


“Nikolaj: Yeah – and then what happened was that, in February 2012, I get this call from Vanessa Crone, Paul [Poirier]’s former partner. She says: I’m interested in skating with you, is it something you would be interested in? Can you get a release so that we can skate for Canada?And so we went through the whole process, signed papers, we were ready to skate for Canada, and then, two and a half months after, she decided to quit”.


Per the records, the incident was April 21st, so it occurred when he was skating with Crone for/in Canada, then he teamed up with Laurence for CANADA, he even tested Canadian tests per the article.

See below:

“BEGINNINGS ARE ALWAYS TOUGH

Nikolaj: That was our first season together, 2012/2013, but we didn’t compete that season. So what happened that year? Interesting stuff.


I had signed some papers with Vanessa, for Skate Canada… and, basically, me and Laurence decided to skate for Canada the first year. Cause we could do all their championships – they have Sectionals, Divisionals, and Nationals, and even though you do National Championships for a country, you can still switch and skate for Denmark after, as long as you haven’t done any international.


And we were even open to the idea of skating for Canada in the beginning – let’s see how it’s gonna go, how well we’re gonna do in Canada. But by the time of our first competition, someone from the federation for the Quebec region called my coaches and said: Nik hasn’t passed his compulsory dances.


Laurence: We have this in Canada, for gold dances.


Nikolaj: Yeah, since 2012 there was a new rule, that if you’re an international skater, you have to have passed your gold dances: the Westminster Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Silver Samba, Argentine Tango and the Quickstep – five dances, in order to compete senior for Canada.

And so he told us this the 3rd of October, and the deadline was the first of October, and we went to a test day two days after, passed all the dances, and Skate Canada still said that we’re after the deadline, so we could not compete for…

Laurence: It was the same day. We went to the test on the same day.

Nikolaj: So we never ended up skating for Canada after all.

But when have you specifically decided to skate for Denmark?

Nikolaj: Right when Canada said we could not skate for them the first year. And the reason why we wanted to skate for Canada was also that you couldn’t get the release the first year [looking at Laurence]. If they give you a Junior Grand Prix, they lock you for 2 years.

But when we heard we couldn’t skate for Canada, we said: You know what? We’re gonna train this year, and just come back next year and skate for Denmark. And so we did a little trip – we went to Lyon, because Patch and Marie were very close to Muriel [Zazoui] and Romain [Haguenauer], and they said: Romain, he really knows the Finnstep very well, so go to Lyon for a week, train with them, get out of here, so you don’t stay in Montreal all year, try something new. So we went to Lyon to do Finnstep with Romain for a week…”

So, doesn’t this mean he was a Skate Canada athlete when it all happened?
How is this a jurisdiction question at all? You have to be a Skate Canada member to take Skate Canada tests.

Anyone have an idea of how to look up his test records or to know how to get more details on this? Is it public information?

 

[ostile17]

The whole Sorensen thing wasn’t sitting well with me. I remembered that Sorensen was skating with Vanessa Crone at the time of the incident. I believe she only ever wanted to skate for Canada so I did some Googling and found this article confirming my suspicion:


Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen: “We’re in it for the long haul” | Inside Skating

https://www.insideskating.net/2017/...nikolaj-sorensen-were-in-it-for-the-long-haul


Here are some quotes:


Sorensen makes this statement:


“Nikolaj: Yeah – and then what happened was that, in February 2012, I get this call from Vanessa Crone, Paul [Poirier]’s former partner. She says: I’m interested in skating with you, is it something you would be interested in? Can you get a release so that we can skate for Canada?And so we went through the whole process, signed papers, we were ready to skate for Canada, and then, two and a half months after, she decided to quit”.


Per the records, the incident was April 21st, so it occurred when he was skating with Crone for/in Canada, then he teamed up with Laurence for CANADA, he even tested Canadian tests per the article.

See below:

“BEGINNINGS ARE ALWAYS TOUGH

Nikolaj: That was our first season together, 2012/2013, but we didn’t compete that season. So what happened that year? Interesting stuff.


I had signed some papers with Vanessa, for Skate Canada… and, basically, me and Laurence decided to skate for Canada the first year. Cause we could do all their championships – they have Sectionals, Divisionals, and Nationals, and even though you do National Championships for a country, you can still switch and skate for Denmark after, as long as you haven’t done any international.


And we were even open to the idea of skating for Canada in the beginning – let’s see how it’s gonna go, how well we’re gonna do in Canada. But by the time of our first competition, someone from the federation for the Quebec region called my coaches and said: Nik hasn’t passed his compulsory dances.


Laurence: We have this in Canada, for gold dances.


Nikolaj: Yeah, since 2012 there was a new rule, that if you’re an international skater, you have to have passed your gold dances: the Westminster Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Silver Samba, Argentine Tango and the Quickstep – five dances, in order to compete senior for Canada.

And so he told us this the 3rd of October, and the deadline was the first of October, and we went to a test day two days after, passed all the dances, and Skate Canada still said that we’re after the deadline, so we could not compete for…

Laurence: It was the same day. We went to the test on the same day.

Nikolaj: So we never ended up skating for Canada after all.

But when have you specifically decided to skate for Denmark?

Nikolaj: Right when Canada said we could not skate for them the first year. And the reason why we wanted to skate for Canada was also that you couldn’t get the release the first year [looking at Laurence]. If they give you a Junior Grand Prix, they lock you for 2 years.

But when we heard we couldn’t skate for Canada, we said: You know what? We’re gonna train this year, and just come back next year and skate for Denmark. And so we did a little trip – we went to Lyon, because Patch and Marie were very close to Muriel [Zazoui] and Romain [Haguenauer], and they said: Romain, he really knows the Finnstep very well, so go to Lyon for a week, train with them, get out of here, so you don’t stay in Montreal all year, try something new. So we went to Lyon to do Finnstep with Romain for a week…”

So, doesn’t this mean he was a Skate Canada athlete when it all happened?
How is this a jurisdiction question at all? You have to be a Skate Canada member to take Skate Canada tests.

Anyone have an idea of how to look up his test records or to know how to get more details on this? Is it public information?

I doubt it would be public information. Maybe you can ask the Skating Scores?

But contacting Brannon with what you found out may be very, very useful, don't you think? I'm sure she can dig out the rest... and more.

 

[overedge]

I think the March 6th 2024 incident is this
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sport...xual-assault-world-championships/73055621007/




Edit. Added a quote from the article about OSIC Rule 5.14.2 regarding retaliation

Thanks for finding this. Now I'd like to know what happened with that other complaint. I think that complaints to OSIC have to be addressed individually even if there's more than one complaint about the same person. So is the second complaint still being investigated? Or did the investigation stop when the ban was imposed? Because if it's the latter - with the ban overturned, the second complaint should go ahead.

 

[overedge]

It looks like Skate Canada has made a decision on the complaint about Jamie McGrigor (coach in BC). His case listing in the Abuse-Free Sport Registry was updated last week to indicate a three-month suspension and "education". https://registry.abuse-free-sport.ca/registry.php?mode=2

 

[puglover]

It looks like Skate Canada has made a decision on the complaint about Jamie McGrigor (coach in BC). His case listing in the Abuse-Free Sport Registry was updated last week to indicate a three-month suspension and "education". https://registry.abuse-free-sport.ca/registry.php?mode=2

I thought I heard he had retired. He was a technical specialist but I haven't seen his name associated with that for quite some time. "Three month suspension and education" really? He is not some new young coach just getting the lay of the land and what is inappropriate. I can't see who ever made the complaint will come away from this feeling it was worth it.

 

[Andrea82]

I thought I heard he had retired. He was a technical specialist but I haven't seen his name associated with that for quite some time. "Three month suspension and education" really? He is not some new young coach just getting the lay of the land and what is inappropriate. I can't see who ever made the complaint will come away from this feeling it was worth it.

At international level, he was retired in 2024 because he reached 70 years old of age (which is the age limit for officials for ISU).

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Investigative journalist Lori Ward has started a Substack where she will report on issues being covered up in figure skating. Her first report is about the Morgan Cipres case.

Broken Ice | Lori Ward | Substack

Investigative journalism. Going beneath the surface of figure skating and elite sports. Click to read Broken Ice, by Lori Ward, a Substack publication.

brokenice.substack.com

 

[puglover]

Investigative journalist Lori Ward has started a Substack where she will report on issues being covered up in figure skating. Her first report is about the Morgan Cipres case.

Broken Ice | Lori Ward | Substack

Investigative journalism. Going beneath the surface of figure skating and elite sports. Click to read Broken Ice, by Lori Ward, a Substack publication.

brokenice.substack.com

How infuriating. "Institutional escape hatch" sounds about right. No proof - oh except for screen shots and emails between Cipres and the young skater's mother. Now his response - "it happened more than 8 years ago, I'm married now and moving forward with my life". What about the young victim and her life??

 

[Sparks]

How infuriating. "Institutional escape hatch" sounds about right. No proof - oh except for screen shots and emails between Cipres and the young skater's mother. Now his response - "it happened more than 8 years ago, I'm married now and moving forward with my life". What about the young victim and her life??

 

[MacMadame]

This is the part that upsets me:

Regardless of the outcome it is likely to have major implications for accountability by sports federations around the globe and used as a blueprint to avoid accountability for alleged misconduct in foreign jurisdictions.

We have to close loopholes like this.

 

[Vagabond]

This is the part that upsets me:

We have to close loopholes like this.

France doesn't extradite its citizens. See Polanski, Roman. Many other countries don't either. "We" aren't going to change that. What we as fans can do is insist that such people have no place in organized sports anywhere.

 

[MacMadame]

France doesn't extradite its citizens. See Polanski, Roman. Many other countries don't either. "We" aren't going to change that. What we as fans can do is insist that such people have no place in organized sports anywhere.

The loophole they need to close is "that happened somewhere else so it doesn't concern us"

 

[TanithandBenFan]

The latest on the Sorensen case from Broken Ice:

Jurisdiction Dispute Continues in disgraced Olympian Assault Case

Investigative journalism. Going beneath the surface of figure skating and elite sports.

brokenice.substack.com

Excerpt:

The survivor, who spoke exclusively with Broken Ice, expressed frustration with what she described as a lack of transparency and initiative during the investigation.

“I think that Skate Canada actively worked against the investigation,” she said. “The SDRCC process is overly complicated and bureaucratic, but at least they have some systems in place. I feel that Skate Canada has actively worked against solving this issue… Skate Canada, I believe, is trying to sweep it under the rug.”

 

[LilJen]

The latest on the Sorensen case from Broken Ice:

Jurisdiction Dispute Continues in disgraced Olympian Assault Case

Investigative journalism. Going beneath the surface of figure skating and elite sports.

brokenice.substack.com

Excerpt:

The survivor, who spoke exclusively with Broken Ice, expressed frustration with what she described as a lack of transparency and initiative during the investigation.

“I think that Skate Canada actively worked against the investigation,” she said. “The SDRCC process is overly complicated and bureaucratic, but at least they have some systems in place. I feel that Skate Canada has actively worked against solving this issue… Skate Canada, I believe, is trying to sweep it under the rug.”

Super sad for the victim. Per that report, sounds like Skate Canada and Sorensen are talking out of both sides of their mouth and avoiding any responsibility.

 

[Debbie S]

Based on the timeline in the article, SC athletes were sent the updated form (which applied the rules retroactively) in "late 2023" and required to sign to continue competing that same season. Sorensen sat on it, fully aware of the complaint filed that past July, and SC waited until the following June to follow up on the unsigned form, even though it was officially required for the season that had just ended.

Then Sorensen signed it, then tried to claim it was under duress b/c of an upcoming comp, which appears to only exist in his imagination, and he and his lawyer decide to cherry-pick which parts of the rules they want to agree to and issue some sort of pre-emptive denial, which is basically meaningless.

Yeah, no evidence of SC dragging their feet or avoiding responsibility here.

 

[skategal]

Based on the timeline in the article, SC athletes were sent the updated form (which applied the rules retroactively) in "late 2023" and required to sign to continue competing that same season. Sorensen sat on it, fully aware of the complaint filed that past July, and SC waited until the following June to follow up on the unsigned form, even though it was officially required for the season that had just ended.

Then Sorensen signed it, then tried to claim it was under duress b/c of an upcoming comp, which appears to only exist in his imagination, and he and his lawyer decide to cherry-pick which parts of the rules they want to agree to and issue some sort of pre-emptive denial, which is basically meaningless.

Yeah, no evidence of SC dragging their feet or avoiding responsibility here.

Bear in mind that it’s Sorenson’s account that says Skate Canada sent a request to him July 2024.

He’s not a reliable narrator. That may or may not be true.

Skate Canada could have tried multiple times up to that point or they could have been negligent.

We don’t know and I don’t trust his story. At all.

 

[Debbie S]

I don’t trust his story. At all.

Agree, but if the signed form was officially required to compete in the 2023-24 season and he didn't sign it, why was he competing? Even if SC followed up multiple times, the bottom line is he didn't sign it and they looked the other way until after the season.

 

[skategal]

Agree, but if the signed form was officially required to compete in the 2023-24 season and he didn't sign it, why was he competing? Even if SC followed up multiple times, the bottom line is he didn't sign it and they looked the other way until after the season.

Didn’t Skate Canada give the skaters 3 months to sign the first version? (December 2022-March 2023?)

Assuming similar timelines for the enhanced version, he would have had until after Worlds 2024 to sign it.

Skate Canada may have waited to see if he was going to stay competitive or retire considering his competitions would have been finished until late Summer/Fall 2024.

 

[Debbie S]

Assuming similar timelines for the enhanced version, he would have had until after Worlds 2024 to sign it.

According to the article, signing the form was required to compete in the 2023-24 season, so the timeline for signing may have been shorter. Maybe we will get a clarification from SC at some point, but so far they aren't winning any awards for transparency.

 

[cholla]

Sørensen has argued that he signed the mandatory UCCMS consent form in July 2024 under pressure.

Pressure was needed to make him sign the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport. Pressure means he was reluctant. Why was he reluctant? Who would not sign such a code of conduct? He had already signed it in 2023 but didn't want to sign the amended version of 2024 and did it only under duress? What had changed? Oh yes he had been accused of rape!! He just didn't want to incriminate himself. If he feared to incriminate himself, was it not because he is guilty as charged? I don't even understand why his lawyers used such a lame argument. Well, they obviously have none other. It makes Sørensen look even worse than before, which is a feat. His defense sums up as: I was forced to sign papers protecting athletes against people... like me.

 

[skategal]

According to the article, signing the form was required to compete in the 2023-24 season, so the timeline for signing may have been shorter. Maybe we will get a clarification from SC at some point, but so far they aren't winning any awards for transparency.

Yes that is the part that isn’t clear in the article.

Knowing UCCMS is a Federal (Canada) organization, their year would most likely be based on the Federal Fiscal year (April 1 - March 31) making sense to have consent forms signed by March 31/April 1 or the Calendar year (making March a deadline and back dating coverage to Jan 1.)

What is described in the article is a bit strange and almost seems like the consent had to be signed to start a new skating season (2024-2025) but retroactively covered past seasons for wrong doings.

 

[Vagabond]

I am not admitted to practice anywhere in Canada, but I cannot imagine that Sorensen's argument that he is not bound by the agreement because he entered into it under duress would be upheld in court. If it is unenforceable as to him, then surely it must be unenforceable as to all. If so, then Skate Canada would be unable to investigate and take action against skaters for misdeeds committed in the past.