Tokyo 2020: the division in the US fencing team over the inclusion of an accused of sexual abuse

07/31/2021 3:41 AM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 07/31/2021 3:46 AM

Jacob Hoyle, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez

took to the track in their classic white outfits. His partner

Alen Hadzic

, of course, too. But there was a striking difference between the members of the United States men's epee (fencing) team that went out to compete at Tokyo 2020. The first three wore pink chinstraps, while the last had a black one. The reason? It had nothing to do with his substitute status. The trio did so to protest the inclusion of Hadzic,

accused of sexual abuse.

Two months before the Olympics, when in May it became known that the fencer in question had been selected to represent the US team,

six fencers women

(including two Olympic) went to the United States Olympic Committee to request

that he was not allowed to

participate

in Hadzic, who was already being

investigated

for at least

3 allegations of abuse.

They had been reported to the American

Center for SafeSport

, the non-profit agency that is dedicated to the protection of athletes by determination of the Congress of that country,

which decided so in 2018

after the revelations that doctor Larry Nassar had abused multiple athletes.

Hadzic's presence at the Games, said this group of women, was

"a direct affront" and put them "at risk."

This entity had suspended Hadzic, but the man

appealed to a court

that eventually "lifted" the punishment.

USA Fencing

, the North American fencing "federation",

recognized

the situation in a very particular way: on the one hand, it argued that SafeSport is the only authority in cases of sexual misconduct and that they do not consider "unproven accusations" when choosing members of the teams.

But at the same time he created

a "security plan"

to keep him away from women

and housed him outside the Olympic Village.

It was determined, for example, that the 29-year-old swordsman traveled to Tokyo

on a different plane than

the other participants, stayed

in a hotel half an hour

away and

could not share training spaces

with women.

Nor was he allowed to participate in the inaugural parade.

Hadzic wanted to appeal these measures, but

the entire fencing team drew up a letter

for them to be upheld.

As reported by the

BuzzFeed News

portal

, this was far from being enough: many of the fencers of the delegation (there are 24 in total) did not want to know anything about the presence of the accused in Japan.

A path of shadows

The United States fencing team, with Alen Hadzic in black and the rest of his teammates in pink.

According to a reconstruction made by this portal with some 30 testimonies collected, the pattern of

"violent" or "sexually unacceptable" behavior

dates back to 2010, when Hadzic was studying at Columbia University.

And none of that reached, so many American athletes question and wonder

how well

the entity in charge of protecting them works.

"Now we have to deal with the consequences of

having a predator on the team while

simultaneously

competing in the biggest event of our lives

. And I think it's a very unfair position to put ourselves in," one fencer under her name told BuzzFeed.

The man has denied all allegations.

Through his lawyer, he has even complained that they took away

"the right to live the Olympic experience that he won"

, in reference to not being able to be in the Villa.

Those consulted by the US media recapitulated the fencer's violent acts, about whom they claimed that since his university days it was often 

"scary to be around"

, especially when he drank (he became insistent with the girls,

ignoring their refusals

to kiss or touch them), or of whom they even told that he has

kicked homeless people

and has laughed at them.

Columbia University, which at the time suspended him for a year and expelled him from the fencing team, has recently been highlighting on its website and in its networks the athletes who passed through its facilities and are competing in Tokyo, but

They never made any reference

to Hadzic, who was allowed to complete his studies there anyway.

There are those who accuse the entity of having found him

guilty of abuse

but without expelling him from the campus.

Former colleagues also point to his status as a "psychological abuser."

And they assure that although they raised this to the coaches, nobody never did anything because as a fencer

his quality was "fantastic".

When USA Fencing announced via Instagram that Hadzic (fourth ranked national) qualified as a relay for the Olympic team, it did not take long for comments rejecting the decision to appear, including that of former university fencing captain Katie Angen.

Quickly, the entity

deleted and limited the comments

in the post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by USA Fencing (@usfencing)

{At that time, Angen and two other women submitted complaints to SafeSport and even contacted the US Olympic Committee. What was the response from the latter entity?

A list of "mental aid services" and

a subscription to a meditation app

.

On June 2, SafeSport suspended him for the ongoing investigation, but after appeal he was allowed to participate because the reports commissioned

are not complete.

The United States men's epee team, with Hadzic as a substitute (did not participate), was

eliminated in the first round

of its category by losing to Japan, eventually gold winner, 45-39.

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