DENVER — American snowboarder Hagen Kearney, who competed in the Beijing Winter Olympics, admitted on social media on Saturday to using a racial slur around teammate Callan Chythlook-Sifsof at an Olympic qualifier 8 years ago.
Chythlook-Sifsof, 32, of Girdwood, Alaska, who is Yupik and Inupiaq, on Friday described the incident with Kearney, 30, a two-time Olympian from Telluride, saying, "I cannot watch another Olympic Games without saying this publicly."
U.S. Ski and Snowboard said Friday they were investigating the incident, along with another incident that Chythlook-Sifsof described involving a coach, Peter Foley.
Kearney responded on Instagram, saying, "It was an act of utter stupidity and disgusting behavior on my part. I immediately regretted what I had done."
Chythlook-Sifsof said that in a van ride to a hotel at an Olympic qualifier in Canada, Kearney remarked that Kanye West gave Black people a bad name, and she told him to keep his mouth shut.
At the hotel, she said, "Hagen was a few people behind me, cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled the n-word on repeat around 20 times as we walked. In the lobby I stopped to face him, he approached me smiling.
"I said, 'Hagen if you say that one more time ...' He got 6 inches from my face, fake punched at me and said, 'What? What are you going to do about it?' "
She said he then followed her into an elevator, even though his room was on the opposite side of the building. She said she got out of the elevator and took the stairs.
On Saturday, Kearney admitted he had used the n-word around Chythlook-Sifsof during an argument on the van ride in an effort to aggravate her, but he said he did not fake punch her, follow her or shout the n-word repeatedly.
He said the coaches were informed and he apologized the next day to Chythlook-Sifsof, who "was reluctant to accept my apology, but she did and I was very grateful for that."
"I am still ashamed about using that word to this day," he said. "I am not a racist person nor have I ever been. All that I can say now is that I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart to the people who I have let down and offended because of this."
Read Chythlook-Sifsof's full Instagram post here:
Read Kearney's full Instagram post here:
U.S. Ski and Snowboard said on Friday that the organization "has been made aware of the recent allegations. We take these allegations very seriously and the allegations are being investigated."
The statement also says that the concerns regarding Kearney were dealt with at the time and appropriate action was taken. U.S. Ski and Snowboard did not detail what that action might have been.
Chythlook-Sifsof emerged onto the snowboardcross scene in 2007 when she won the Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Championships and took third in the first World Cup of her career, according to U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
After the 2010 Olympics, she won a silver at the Winter X-Games in 2011 and a spot on the World Cup podium in Switzerland. She returned to the World Cup circuit in 2013 after recovering from a knee injury.
Kearney finished seventh in seeding in men's snowboardcross at the 2022 Winter Olympics but didn't advance to the semifinals, finishing 17th overall in the field. He placed 13th in snowboardcross at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
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