Reporter says she will countersue John Furlong

Laura Robinson, the reporter who wrote about alleged abuse by former Vancouver Olympics chief John Furlong, says she will countersue him for saying she didn’t do sufficient research.

Robinson says Furlong intentionally misinformed the public about her ethics when he accused her of having a vendetta against him.

After her story was published last week, Furlong denied the allegations and said he would be taking legal action.

Robinson, meanwhile, says she sent six to eight emails to the publisher of Furlong’s book, Patriot Hearts, released after the 2010 Vancouver Games. She received one reply from a publicist saying he was a physical education teacher at a Roman Catholic high school in Prince George, B.C. Robinson says that’s the only answer she ever received from Furlong in more than a year of reporting.

The Georgia Straight, a weekly newspaper in Vancouver, has quoted former students who allege that Furlong mentally and physically abused them.