Ted Morris plays down Maria Lamb outburst

US Speedskating executive director Ted Morris has played down Maria Lamb's criticism of the organisation.

The 28-year-old American claimed that the authorities could have done better to help the speed skaters at the ongoing 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

"It's an emotional situation," The AP quotes him as saying.

"It's hard to ask a soldier how the war is going when they're in the foxhole getting bombarded. That's the situation we have here a little bit.

"I guess we're getting a little frustrated. We feel like there's a little bit of piling on right now."

The American speed skaters have not won a single medal in Sochi.