Last August, USA Track & Field notified its 130,000 members that Coronado race walker Andreas Gustafsson had been suspended amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
He was banned from coaching or competing.
“This action affirms USATF’s paramount goal of protecting its members and participants from victimization by sexual predators and other misconduct,” the USATF email said.
Last month, USATF quietly took Gustafsson’s name off its disciplinary list after the U.S. Center for SafeSport did the same. No public notice was given.
Now living in Utah, Gustafssson says he’s free to compete and train others again.
In a brief phone chat with Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego‘s editor and publisher, the former Olympic Trials champion (at Santee) asked for an article posted on his case be removed from this website.
Gustafsson earlier denied accusations he assaulted Olympian Robyn Stevens over a 2 1/2-year period starting in 2017 — saying the sex was consensual. He later was divorced by Molly, his wife of 15 years and mother of two sons.
Stevens says the removal of his name occurred when she quit taking part in arbitration proceedings in the Gustafsson case, citing trauma from delays in the matter.
But she says Gustafsson is on a two-year probation — and can’t contact her — “because he is guilty of sexual misconduct where there is a power imbalance.”
“He must be very transparent and forthright that he is still on probation for two years,” she told Times of San Diego, while noting she can reopen the case.
Stevens remains bitter about how SafeSport handled her complaint.
“They clearly don’t care about athlete well-being and safety,” she said. “There are more than just a couple of us. Multiple. But even one person assaulted is too many.”
She said that when arbitration discussions were repeatedly rescheduled, it causes “further trauma for the victim-survivors.”
Gustafsson didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment, and neither did USATF leaders and its SafeSport office.
But Hilary Nemchik, a former San Diego city attorney spokeswoman now working for SafeSport, said a name coming off the center’s Centralized Disciplinary Database doesn’t necessarily mean that participant isn’t facing some form of restriction or sanction.
“We do not publicize when a name comes down from the CDD, nor do we publicize a name going up,” she said. “As such, checking it regularly is probably the best approach.”
To protect the integrity of its investigative process, she said, SafeSport does not comment on specific cases.
Under his probation, Stevens said, Gustafsson, 47, and anyone affiliated with him (including family and friends) “are not to contact anyone who has been a survivor of his sexual (and bullying) misconduct and this includes no contact with witnesses.”
She added: “If he decides to try to return to participating in athletics in any role and capacity, he is to take every precaution possible to avoid being within range of any of us and interacting with us.”
“If I see that he returns and has not been forthright, I will open the case back up,” Stevens says. “If he is smart, he will stay away from returning to athletics in any capacity.”
