After the AP reported that two-time Olympic biathlete Joanne Reid had been sexually harassed and abused by her coach for years, several athletes contacted reporter Martha Bellisle to say it also happened to them going back far as the 1990s. The combined accounts showed a 30-year pattern of the abuse and mistreatment of female biathletes that were ignored while their coaches – often brought in from Europe to improve the team’s Olympic medal chances – thrived in their careers.
In one instance, a young biathlete attempted suicide after an inappropriate relationship with her coach. In another, an athlete’s complaint about a male coach’s assault was ignored, she said, because the coach’s U.S. visa had taken two years to secure.
Bellisle built trust with the women over several months as she worked to corroborate their stories. She interviewed others who raced during the same time periods or were on the same teams, including other female athletes, a male national team member and other male coaches who confirmed the behaviors the women described.
Bellisle also amassed many documents before reaching out the coaches and U.S. Biathlon officials: legal complaints, settlement agreements, therapist notes, a SafeSport report on Reid’s case, emails between U.S. Biathlon’s top official and one of the female athletes and more.
Top Stories Desk editor Mary Sedor then worked with Bellisle for weeks to distill the reporting and sharpen the focus. Sedor had edited the previous story by Bellisle. Intimately familiar with the story’s arc, Sedor was uniquely positioned to push Bellisle with tough, incisive questions, while insisting on documentation for every claim and polishing the prose. Sedor’s contributions were critical and significant.
Pacific Northwest Chief Photographer Jenny Kane traveled to Bend, Oregon to gather photos and video of one of the former female biathletes at her home and Seattle-based VJ Manuel Valdes worked long hours to produce a video package and carefully vet it with AP’s legal team. The AP Explains-style video included expert narration by Bellisle.
The story was unmatched by any competitors and was widely used.
Just over a day after the initial story was published, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic officials placed one of the coaches on leave based on the AP report and sent an email to U.S. Biathlon team members saying it was gathering more information on the “concerning” allegations in Bellisle’s story.
Bellisle also received emails from eight current and former Biathlon athletes, Paralympics competitors and others on U.S. Olympics winter sports national teams — men and women — thanking her for the story, sharing their insights and urging her to dig deeper. She also received an anonymous phone call about additional allegations against one of the coaches.
One of the readers, a present-day member of the national women’s U.S. Biathlon team, who is currently racing in Europe, wrote Bellisle: “Thank you for giving voices to women who have been told to be quiet for so long.”
The judges were impressed by the extensive reporting and expertly crafted exclusive multi-format story. For an impactful story that has provoked action at the highest levels of sport Bellisle and Sedor are honored with this week’s Best of the Week – First Winner.
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