The replacement for the US epee team at the Tokyo Olympics is accused of sexual violence. Having failed to get him excluded, his teammates made a very symbolic gesture during the competition.
On Friday July 30, the men’s team épée tournament took place as part of the Tokyo Olympic Games. During the competition, several American athletes made a strong gesture. Alen Hadzic, one of their teammates, is indeed accused by several women of sexual violence. Opposed to his selection that they could not prevent, the other fencers displayed a symbol of support for his alleged victims.
Alen Hadzic is targeted by several accusations of sexual violence
At 29 years old, Alen Hadzic occupied the place of replacement in the American épée team. He qualified for the Olympics last May, explains Buzzfeed. From then on, three women accused him of sexual assault and rape that took place between 2013 and 2015, when he was a student-athlete at Columbia University. At least two of them were also students and fencers at the time.
Alen Hadzic refutes the facts with which he is accused. However, at the time, he had indeed been suspended from the university for a year, while an investigation into the facts was carried out. During it, “a set of inappropriate behaviors in matters of sexual conduct and violent acts”, has been reported, according to Buzzfeed. On June 2, the US Center for Safesport, an American agency founded in 2017 and whose role is to prevent all abuses in high performance sport, decided to suspend it on June 2. His decision was overturned by the courts in early July, allowing the swordsman to participate in the Olympic Games.
Other actions were taken to prevent him from participating in the competition, to no avail. Indeed, six fencers, including two registered for the Olympics, wrote to the American Olympic Committee to request its suspension, which was rejected. Likewise, his teammates told Buzzfeed that they were opposed to his selection. “We are outraged to have to deal with him. He is protected over and over again …”, annoyed one of them, who even formally formulated a complaint against Alen Hadzic to the American fencing federation.
The gesture of the American swordsmen after the selection of Alen Hadzic
Shocked by the presence of Alen Hadzic by their side, the three other members of the American epee team decided to take a strong position. At the start of the tournament, Jacob Hoyle, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez displayed a pink Covid-19 protective mask, a color widely used in the United States to show support for women’s rights. A strong gesture, because they wished to show that they were opposed to the presence of their teammate and that they believed the alleged victims.
Sanctions against Alen Hadzic
If Alen Hadzic was nevertheless selected, several sanctions against him have been put in place. He was thus banned from staying in the Olympic Village and was accommodated in a remote hotel. The swordsman was also banned from training at the same time as women.