USOC pledges changes to curb poor behavior

updated 5:11 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2006

TURIN, Italy - With the whole world watching, Bode Miller earned more notice for his Olympic partying than his performance. Teammates Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick skated and squabbled. Jeret Peterson finished off a boozy night in the mountains with a street scuffle.

While the U.S. Olympians are near the top of the medal table, their behavior beyond the events was not quite golden. U.S. officials, promising “significant adjustments” in their handling of athletes, hope to curb such churlish behavior before the 2008 Games in Beijing.

“It affects how the world views our country, and how the athletes are viewed,” U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr said Saturday. “We’ll use a number of things that happened here to point things out to other athletes. Like case studies.”

Scherr didn’t call anyone out by name, but the unidentified bad boys weren’t difficult to identify. Hours after Saturday’s news conference ended, Miller failed to finish in the first run of the slalom and officially ended his Turin stay with zero medals in five races.

Scherr was obviously aware of reports from the Alpine venues of Miller’s late-night tequila shots at the Irish Igloo.

“We have certain expectations,” said Scherr, detailing the code of conduct for the U.S. team. “The athletes have to prepare themselves and compete to the best of their ability. And their behavior should bring honor to the United States.”

Scherr said the USOC would do a better job of letting the athletes know about accountability for their actions, along with possible penalties.

Before the 2004 Athens Games, the USOC made sure its athletes were instructed on proper behavior. No one wanted a repeat of the antics from Australia in 2002, when the men’s 400-meter relay team clowned around on the medal stand; one member stuck his tongue out at the cameras after winning the gold.

The Americans stayed on their best behavior in Greece — it just didn’t carry over to Turin.

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“This team has taken a little bit of a hit because of their comportment,” Scherr acknowledged.

The Turin throwdown between Hedrick and Davis threatened to eclipse the speedskating competition. Both can expect a call from USOC officials once these games are wrapped up.

“We will sit down and talk with the federation and these athletes in terms of how their actions are viewed around the world,” Scherr said. “They are both very competitive individuals, and this was a new experience for them. We want to make certain they understand our position.”

Several U.S. athletes, who spoke after Scherr at the news conference, said they understood the USOC’s expectations.

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