IOC prez: ICE, Epstein files sad distractions from Games

MILAN — Two years before the Los Angeles Olympics, the United States is already dominating the narrative in the run-up to the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

International Olympic Committee officials, including president Kirsty Coventry, couldn’t avoid questions relating to ICE and the Jeffrey Epstein files at a news conference in Milan on Sunday.

Coventry tried to fend them off by saying it was not the IOC’s place to comment on the issues but when pressed admitted it was “sad” that such stories were deflecting attention away from the upcoming Olympics.

“I think anything that is distracting from these Games is sad, right? But we’ve learned over the many years … there’s always been something that has taken the lead, leading up to the Games,” Coventry said. “Whether it has been Zika, COVID, there has always been something.

“But what is keeping my faith alive is that when that opening ceremony happens and those athletes start competing, suddenly the world remembers the magic and the spirit that the Games have and they get to suddenly remember what’s actually important and they get to be inspired, and so we’re really looking forward to that.”

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, unbothered by the fact that agents would be stationed in a control room and not operating on the streets.

“From all the information that we have and I believe that the U.S. authorities, as the other authorities, have made all the clarifications needed, so from our side that’s not for us to further comment on that part of the security. But we’re really looking forward to the Games,” Coventry said when asked about the presence of ICE agents in Milan.

Meanwhile, the latest collection of government files released on Epstein include emails from 2003 between Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, and Epstein’s onetime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Coventry was even less responsive when asked about Wasserman.

“We didn’t discuss it yesterday, and I believe Mr. Wasserman has put out his statement and we now have nothing further to add,” said Coventry, who was elected just over 10 months ago and is the first female IOC president.

Two IOC members were mentioned in the documents, although there is no suggestion they did anything wrong. They are Richard Carrion, a Puerto Rican banker who finished runner-up to former IOC president Thomas Bach in the 2013 election, and Johan Eliasch, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation president who was one of Coventry’s opponents in March.

“I’ve not been in contact with Casey. The focus has fully been on Milano Cortina. There’s been a number of things that we’ve been focusing on here,” Coventry said. “In terms of IOC members, we’re obviously watching and monitoring the media and we’re aware of a few things that have been reported just today and we need some time to look into that and to be given intel.”

The upcoming Olympics run from Feb. 6-22. U.S. Vice President JD Vance will lead an American delegation to the Milan Cortina Games and attend Friday’s opening ceremony.