polevaultpower wrote:
The Center only had jurisdiction because he was also an elite coach who joined USA Track & Field. If a college coach doesn’t join USATF, the Center doesn’t have jurisdiction over them.
Sounds like the doping situation.
NCAAcoaches, let this serve as your friendly reminder. If you want to have sex with your athletes and dope them, make sure you and the athletes both are not members of USATF.
Sickening.
TheErinBrown tweeted about this in October 2025. SafeSport rarely takes 6 months to issue a "temporary suspension." Those often / usually come down in a matter of days after the report is filed with SafeSport.
So did TheErinBrown report Francique to SafeSport when he came into this information in October? Or anyone else who saw and shared the tweet? Seems like it would be pretty irresponsible of him to tweet it but not *do* anything, especially if that action could potentially keep athletes safe and punish the guilty. You don't have to be the victim to report to SafeSport: they have "third party" reports.
And let's face it: the allegation he shared was a serious felony. Did he or anyone else inform law enforcement? If he believed it enough to share it - opening himself up to libel / defamation suit if it's not true - then it seems like it's a pretty basic matter of ethics / morals to report it.
Geez, I don't think the stuff with Slimeball Salazar took this long.
i would keep a close eye in this safesport group.
this is a orwellian name for an org.
Wait-what wrote:
TheErinBrown tweeted about this in October 2025. SafeSport rarely takes 6 months to issue a "temporary suspension." Those often / usually come down in a matter of days after the report is filed with SafeSport.
So did TheErinBrown report Francique to SafeSport when he came into this information in October? Or anyone else who saw and shared the tweet? Seems like it would be pretty irresponsible of him to tweet it but not *do* anything, especially if that action could potentially keep athletes safe and punish the guilty. You don't have to be the victim to report to SafeSport: they have "third party" reports.
And let's face it: the allegation he shared was a serious felony. Did he or anyone else inform law enforcement? If he believed it enough to share it - opening himself up to libel / defamation suit if it's not true - then it seems like it's a pretty basic matter of ethics / morals to report it.
When nothing happened within a few weeks of the victim making a public statement, I personally filed a report with the US Center for SafeSport, just to make sure they were aware. I was able to see that it got merged with an existing case, so a report had been filed before then. Francique continued to be USATF three-step compliant during that time, which was incredibly frustrating.
Third parties can file reports with SafeSport, but if there are no criminal charges, it can be very hard to actually move forward with a case unless there is a cooperating victim. When there is a cooperating victim, it usually takes time. Sadly, the five or so months this took is better than many similar cases the Center has taken.
For example, gymnastics coach Al Fong has had credible allegations of abuse for decades. His wikipedia page has a section for athlete deaths. He was featured heavily in a book about abuse in gymnastics that was published in the 1990s. The abuse continued in the decades that followed and numerous gymnasts filed reports with the US Center for SafeSport. The investigation took SIX YEARS. He just received a five year ban in January.
From a criminal standpoint, as far as we know all of the victims are legally adults, so a 10 year statute of limitations in Texas would likely apply. The victim who went public reported that this happened in 2012.
For a criminal case (unlike SafeSport) the question of being able to prove whether or not it was consensual plays a big role, if there are any claims that fall within the statute of limitations.
Everything in your post is accurate, it's just much harder than most people realize on both the criminal and the SafeSport side to get action to actually happen.
Cool2Man wrote:
Geez, I don't think the stuff with Slimeball Salazar took this long.
Here is a rough timeline of events in the Salazar SafeSport case (from Kara's book)
April 2018 - Kara discloses to USADA that she was sexually assaulted by Salazar. USADA files a report with the US Center for SafeSport.
May 2018 - SafeSport reaches out to Kara. She chooses not to move forward with the investigation as she had only just disclosed this information for the first time and had not even begun to process it.
November 2019 - Mary Cain goes public with her story. Amy Begley goes public with hers. Complaints are filed with the US Center for SafeSport.
SafeSport reaches out to Kara again, who agrees to move forward with the investigation into her abuse and to testify against Salazar.
July 2021 - The US Center for SafeSport bans Salazar.
Five months for a historical case of sexual abuse involving two adults is sadly pretty good by SafeSport standards. Hopefully they continue to improve on their response.
Only 3 months after suspending someone who had already died. Quality organization
Dyestat Rumor wrote:
Only 3 months after suspending someone who had already died. Quality organization
Nope that was USATF Safe Sport that suspended a dead coach.
The US Center for SafeSport does not suspend/ban dead coaches, but they leave it up to the NGBs to decide whether or not they want to do so for the cases the NGB has jurisdiction over.
Wait-what wrote:
So did TheErinBrown report Francique to SafeSport when he came into this information in October?
I finally got around to checking out Erin's TikTok about this, and he says he did report it to SafeSport back when the story broke.