Pro-Trump U.S. Figure Skater Blames Congress, Media for Abuse Epidemic in Olympic Sports

Former U.S. figure skater Adam Schmidt lay in his hospital bed, believing his battle was over.

Stricken with a life-threatening sepsis infection after a long legal battle against the coach who had sexually abused him during his time on Team U.S.A., Schmidt had hoped to ponder a future that didn’t include reopening the wounds of the past.

However, as he lay there watching hours upon hours of Russian collusion hoax coverage, Schmidt grew enraged at the mainstream media’s zeal in plunging the country into fruitless scandal while refusing to address the rampant abuse at Team U.S.A. that he knew was all too real.

It was then that Schmidt knew that no one in the media would listen, unless he made them listen. His fight against abuse couldn’t end in a courtroom, it would end in Washington, DC.

“I am not a victim,” Schmidt told Breitbart Sports. “I am not a survivor. I am not special. I am one person with a story. Every person understands personal pain or has experienced something in their life they wish didn’t happen.”

For Schmidt, the memories of the abuse he suffered at the hands of those he trusted to train him, is seared into his memory.

“I was abused sexually by my former coach Mr. Callahan when he trained me during the late 90’s into the early 2000’s,” Schmidt revealed. “The abuse occurred from the time I was 14-16years old. Unbeknownst to me similar allegations had been reported to US Figure Skating in 1999, the year my abuse started. But US Figure Skating refused to act on the allegations due to their policy at the time which allowed them to ignore allegations of abuse if they were not reported within 60 days.

“I would only come to learn recently how many other athletes were also reporting abuses by this coach and that they were brushed under the carpet to protect US Figure Skating’s top coach and the organization’s public image.”

The pain from those memories and the need to make sure such abuse didn’t happen again meant making a new law, and making his private life public.

“I understood the stakes and what I was up against. I knew I’d have to do my part and pull my weight. For me that meant forfeiting my personal privacy and discomfort by rolling my sleeves up and getting to work. It became clear to me that the best way to do this would be to publicly bring attention to this issue by being very open and candid about my own personal story for others to be able to understand the urgency and importance of this bill.”

That bill, the Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019, is the law that Schmidt believes will hold the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee accountable. Working hand-in-hand the staff of the bill’s co-sponsor Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), a highly-motivated legislative team every bit as determined as Schmidt to see the bill pass, the former figure skater sees real hope for success.

“It will Increase the legal liability for the USOPC and the 47 individual sport-specific governing bodies under its umbrella, such as US  Figure Skating and USA Gymnastics for instances of sexual abuse by coaches and employees,” Schmidt explained. “The USOPC would be required to maintain a public list of all banned coaches to ensure that they are not simply rehired elsewhere. And it will allow Congress to impose the “death penalty” for non-compliance by dissolving  the USOPC’s board of directors for failure to fulfill its oversight responsibility, as well as to decertifying  individual sports’ governing bodies for their failures.”

Schmidt feels a personal disdain, for all those in media and government who have turned a blind eye and deaf ear to Olympic athletes who have been abused by their coaches. For the wheels of change and justice to turn, the system which prioritized Olympic gold over the welfare of child Olympians will have to be destroyed.

“For far too long this has been the status quo. Everybody knows and yet everybody turns a blind eye. Why? Because top coaches produce medal winning athletes who in turn produce sponsorships and money for the organizations, their leaders and coaches. All too often, a top coach who is accused of physical, emotional or even sexual abuse of child athletes in either allowed to move to another gym or simply has the accusations ignored. Time after time accusations of sexual abuse of children have not been reported to law enforcement as the law requires. That is what needs to be investigated and changed. Because there has been a lack of transparency and accountability which needs to be enforced.”

And what better time to force revolutionary change, than during an election year? Schmidt believes the people of this country deserve a celebratory moment of unity and strength. And that the time to do the right thing by those who represent our country is now
“2020 is both an election and Olympic Games year. We are inundated with political news and partisan bickering every single day.  Have Congress and the media forgotten the horrific, public and painful stories we as a nation just lived through regarding the abuse of so many children who stoically put country first and trauma second to holding the American flag & competing for this country?

“Well, I’ve had enough! I’m calling for… and challenging every single member of Congress, as well as the press, to answer this question… How much longer do we need to wait and suffer until you decide to do something? Senators Moran and Blumenthal have proven that it is possible to act in a bipartisan way to draft a bill which will protect  the next generation of Olympic and amateur athletes. Now it is up to Congress to finish  the job and pass the bill.

“Should my summer Olympic colleagues have to march in the opening ceremonies of the 2020 games carrying not only the American flag, but the anxiety of knowing this bill hasn’t been signed into law yet? A bill that simply provides them with a level of security…  just knowing our government is behind them!!”

The time is now.