Kris Freeman gets a cold shoulder

Tue, Oct  22, 2013 - By Matthew Futterman

Four months ahead of the Sochi Olympics, it's hard to criticize the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. Americans have conquered the Austrian-centric Alpine world. They own snowboarding and now they're winning Nordic events, too. Clearly, the USSA leadership has made some great decisions of late. But they made a bad call earlier this year when they cut national champion Kris Freeman from the U.S. cross-country team.

Even though Freeman will likely make it to the Olympics next year, the move cost him not only the chance to collect thousands of dollars in funding from the U.S. Olympic Committee, but also his USOC-subsidized health insurance.

This is no minor matter. Freeman has Type 1 diabetes, also known as "juvenile" diabetes, which is typically triggered early in life by an autoimmune disorder. His health-care costs aren't small; he has been on COBRA since he got booted from the team.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal...