[Illusion]

NEW YORK -- U.S. Olympic women's skeleton coach Tim Nardiello has been accused of sexual harassment since 2002 by some members of the team, The New York Times reported on its Web site Friday night.

The athletes said Nardiello made sexual advances, sexually explicit comments and barged into hotel rooms while women were undressing, according to athletes interviewed by the Times and e-mail messages sent to the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and shared with the newspaper.

Tristan Gale, a gold medallist in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, is among the athletes accusing Nardiello.

Nardiello denied the accusations, saying the complaints were from athletes who did not make the Olympic team.

"I would have to say that is absolutely not true, and I would leave any other comments to counsel," Nardiello told the newspaper from his home in Lake Placid, N.Y., where the federation is based.

Calls to Nardiello's home were not answered, and a message left for bobsled spokesman Tom Ladue was not immediately returned.

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said the claims would be investigated.

"These are very serious allegations," Seibel told The Associated Press. "We will immediately begin to investigate these claims and if we determine there has been misconduct on the part of the coach, the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. This matter will receive immediate and complete attention."

The newspaper also reported that the federation decided Thursday that Nardiello would remain the coach of the team for the Turin Olympics in February but would be asked to resign three days after the games are completed.

That decision, announced to the federation's board in an e-mail, further angered the athletes who made the accusations and another coach who said he had witnessed harassing behavior, the newspaper said.

On Friday, one of those athletes, Felicia Canfield, sent an e-mail message to the board stating that she wanted her complaint to be considered a formal grievance against Nardiello.

Robie Vaughn, the federation's interim director, said an investigation was ongoing.

"We'll take this very seriously, and we're looking into it," he told the Times. "We're pursuing it with all vigor, but being sensitive to the legalities on all sides."

n skeleton, athlete slide headfirst on a sled at more than 70 mph on the same track used for bobsled and luge. The sport was added to the Olympics in 2002, and Americans won gold medals in the men's and women's events.

[Illusion]

ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. -- A New York Supreme Court judge will not decide until at least Tuesday whether to grant embattled U.S. skeleton coach Tim Nardiello's request to have his suspension temporarily overturned, a delay that hurts his chance of joining the national team at a World Cup race this weekend.

Essex County Supreme Court Judge James Dawson listened to 75 minutes of arguments in open court on Monday, and said he needed time before making a decision, which attorneys said was likely to come by e-mail and fax on Tuesday.

Nardiello has been suspended since Dec. 31 after two allegations of sexual harassment were filed with the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. The national skeleton team competes in a World Cup event in Germany this weekend.

Nardiello and his attorney, James Brooks, left the court without commenting. But the delay frustrated USBSF president Jim Shea Sr., who said he was hoping the hearing would result in a quick resolution.

"I want to see this thing go forward," Shea said. "I don't think it's fair to Tim. I don't think it's fair to the athletes."


The USBSF told Dawson it believes the court does not have jurisdiction in the matter, and is offering Nardiello an expedited hearing or the opportunity for binding arbitration. But USBSF legal counsel Dan Goodwin said the earliest a hearing could happen is Thursday -- the day the World Cup opens in Germany.

And this weekend's competition is a critical one for the U.S. It will determine whether the Americans have one or two women's sleds at the Torino Olympics next month.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these athletes and this coach to see if all their work from the last four years is going to result in (Olympic) medals," Brooks said during the hearing.

Two harassment allegations prompted the USBSF to suspend Nardiello, who contends that neither is valid because they were not sworn to under oath or meet other criteria laid out in the federation's bylaws.

But attorneys for the federation said that argument was irrelevant.

"A claim of harassment in any form ... has to be addressed, has to be taken seriously," said Alan Howard, an attorney for the USBSF.

The first allegation came from Marsha Gale, the mother of 2002 Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gale. She claimed Nardiello made sexually inappropriate comments to her daughter, and that his conduct was unprofessional.

Since that account was not a firsthand claim of harassment, the USBSF kept Nardiello in his job. Then, when slider Felicia Canfield came forward and said Nardiello tried to touch her, kiss her and made lewd statements to her and to other female sliders, the USBSF reopened an investigation and put him on leave.

Canfield, the wife of board member Brady Canfield and one of the first people Nardiello coached when he joined the skeleton program four years ago, also said Nardiello told sliders that the only time he wanted to see their legs spread on their sleds was when he was "between them." Skeleton sliders try to keep their legs together when racing to reduce wind drag and therefore post a faster time.

Nardiello said he made a similar comment three seasons ago, insisting it was without any sexual connotations and referred only to on-ice technique. He was verbally reprimanded by the USBSF and says he has not made similar analogies since.

He dismisses the harassment claims as "innuendo and utterly false statements," saying they mainly reprise mistakes he made long ago and come from those who had an agenda against him because of their exclusion from Olympic consideration this season.

Neither Canfield nor Gale will compete at the Torino Games.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Olympic Committee is continuing its investigation into Nardiello's conduct and plans to interview him and others this week.

The USOC has final say on which coaches and athletes compose its delegation to the Torino Games, no matter whom is nominated by the individual sport federations. And however Dawson rules, it won't necessarily mean that Nardiello will or will not coach American sliders at the Olympics.

[tacomax]

How the heck do you coach a skeleton? This is necrophilia gone mad.