De Grasse's coach sent packing after bombshell report

PARIS From the looks of it, perhaps Canadian sports poohbahs should have chartered a plane for a stealth extraction of coaches punted from the Olympics.

- ROSIE DIMANNO

The numbers are mounting. First a pair of drone-deploying cheats on the staff of women’s soccer head coach Bev Priestman. Then Priestman herself, sent packed and booted by Canada Soccer, with a one-year suspension, once it was determined she was no innocent drive-by casualty but the alleged boss of the whole subterfuge.

Now track guru Rana Reider. Admittedly, not a Canadian by birth or passport but certainly with the Maple Leaf on his chest by extension or surrogacy, as the personal coach to Andre De Grasse, Canada’s most decorated sprinter.

The Canadian Olympic Committee made short shrift of Reider, announcing Tuesday it had revoked his accreditation, citing “new information” about sexual and emotional misconduct, which had apparently rendered the man toxic.

One might well ask — because the COC statement released is tortuous in its duck-and-cover language — why it elected to issue Reider a coaching credential in the first place. This is not a person with a pristine record in interpersonal intercourse, you should forgive the expression.

“Rana Reider was accredited as a personal coach, with access only to the athletics warm-up area and training venues,” the statement said.

Well, that’s all right then.

“The decision to provide him with that access was based on the understanding that his probation with the U.S. Center for SafeSport ended in May this year, that he had no other suspensions or sanctions, and otherwise met our eligibility requirements.”

But now that a whole new slew of allegations against Reider has surfaced, the COC has relocated its alleged integrity and responsibility to protect.

“On Sunday, August 4, we learned of new information about the appropriateness of Mr. Reider remaining accredited by Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Games. In discussion with Athletics Canada, it was agreed that Mr. Reider accreditation be revoked.”