5:12 PM ET
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Alyssa Roenigk and Tisha Thompson
Longtime U.S. Snowboard head coach Peter Foley is no longer with U.S. Ski and Snowboard, according to a statement provided to ESPN by the federation on Sunday.
“As of March 20, 2022, Peter Foley is no longer employed by U.S. Ski and Snowboard,” the USSA statement read. “Mr. Foley has been on a leave of absence since February 21, 2022. Rob Fagen will act as interim head coach while we conduct a national search for a new world-class head coach for the U.S. Snowboardcross team.”
USSA declined to clarify whether Foley resigned or had been terminated. Current members of the U.S. Snowboard team were informed of Foley’s departure in an email from the federation on Sunday.
Foley was temporarily suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport on Friday, pending a formal investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made by several women last week.
“Any allegations of sexual misconduct being made against him are false,” Foley’s attorney, Howard Jacobs, told ESPN on Sunday. “Mr. Foley has not engaged in any conduct that violates the SafeSport Code, and he will cooperate with the U.S. Center for SafeSport when and if they contact him.”
Jacobs declined further comment on Foley’s departure from USSA.
Initial allegations against Foley, 56, first surfaced publicly during the Beijing Olympics in February, when former snowboardcross athlete Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, a 2010 Olympian, wrote a series of Instagram posts accusing Foley of sexual misconduct and two male athletes of inappropriate behavior. U.S. Ski and Snowboard said at the time that it had opened an investigation into the allegations.
Foley had been the head coach of the U.S. Snowboard team since its inception in 1994, and led the national squad to seven Olympic games. His athletes, both men and women, won a combined 35 Olympic medals.