The double Olympic champion was denied her bid to escape a coach she says abused and harassed her, exposing a numbingly familiar truth: the system is not set up to support survivors

Kaillie Humphries brought glory to Canada time and again on the world stage, winning a gold medal in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Vancouver Olympics and becoming the first woman ever to successfully defend her title in Sochi four years later. She has challenged gender norms in sport by being one of the first few women to compete in mixed gender racing, then in 2016 drove an all-woman team against men in international competition.

Technically speaking, Humphries is badass, and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton has adored her. The true north has only started to utter it’s polite disdain since last week when Humphries announced that she wanted to leave the national federation because she had endured verbal and mental abuse from head coach Todd Hays. Humphries declared her intention to switch federations and compete under the American flag moving forward. “I need to be the best athlete I can be and go where it’s safe and where I have an opportunity to continue my career” she said in an interview with CBC Sports. “And unfortunately, that is not with Bobsleigh Canada anymore.”