US Ski & Snowboard withdraws from a proposed strategic alliance with US Biathlon

U.S. Ski & Snowboard withdrew from a proposed strategic alliance that was in the works with the U.S. Biathlon Association and had been set for a vote Wednesday in what would have been a rare merger between two Olympic sport organizations.

Sophie Goldschmidt, the CEO of USSS, said in a statement that “inaccurate and harmful misinformation was spread about the alliance’s intent. If we can’t go into this with the right collaborative spirit, then we don’t believe this is the best path forward. We wish U.S. Biathlon luck in the coming season.”

In a note to its members, U.S. Biathlon explained the board “has decided to pause consideration of the Alliance at this time.”

The partnership had been in the works for months and was necessary, U.S. biathlon officials said, to boost the revenues and results for a winter sport in which the U.S. is searching for its first Olympic medal. But the potential agreement drew strong opposition from the biathlon community.

A recent survey of biathlon coaches, volunteers and official members showed that 6.2% were in favor of approving the agreement as currently contemplated.

In its statement to members, U.S. Biathlon wrote: “We heard our members, and we value the continued engagement and willingness to participate in these important conversations. As we look ahead, we are committed to carrying those lessons forward and engaging our members and broader community.”

U.S. Biathlon CEO Jack Gierhart told members that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee was cutting 22% of its funding and sponsors were pulling back. That led the board to consider an offer to join USSS, where biathlon — a sport that combines cross-country skiing with precision rifle shooting — would have access to more money and could add athlete services and expose more skiers to biathlon.

“We believe this agreement would take biathlon to the next level, on and off the snow, with additional sport resources from the grassroots to the elite level, alongside significantly impactful partnership, marketing, communications and administrative support,” Goldschmidt said in a statement. “We worked closely with U.S. Biathlon’s board, athletes and stakeholders to build terms that incorporated the above, while protecting biathlon’s identity and independence.”

Merging Olympic sport organizations is rare. Goldschmidt tried to take over USA Surfing last year but dropped the bid after opposition from members. She’s in discussions with USA Skateboarding, she recently said.

The partnership was moving forward in July as biathlon organized a working group to further explore an operating agreement. The USBA scheduled a meeting for late August to go over the findings and possibly vote, but it was moved to Wednesday. The board held a special session and went over a few business items before Goldschmidt was introduced on the Zoom call and eventually voiced her concerns about the agreement.

“We really feel that we’ve got to a pretty win-win situation with this operating agreement,” Goldschmidt said during the meeting. “We’re disappointed that the community has not been receptive to much of what has been discussed and in our minds sort of the overall big win that this would have for biathlon.”

Bob Hall, the chair of the biathlon board, recommended a closed executive session after “some significant news that really has come out of left field,” he said. Leif Nordgren, an athlete representative, preferred to discuss the matter in a public forum.

“This whole process has created a pretty big divide, rift, between membership and leadership,” Nordgren said. “If it’s not something that we can discuss out in the open, then I think it’s just going to grow that rift and create more distance between the board and the general membership.”

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