Well-known sports figure John Furlong fired back Tuesday in the latest war-of-words with a freelance reporter whose story last week claimed he physically and verbally abused some First Nations students at a northern B.C. school where he once worked.

Furlong, former head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Organizing Committee, and reporter Laura Robinson, have threatened legal action against each other.

Furlong said in his latest statement he’s “at a loss to try to understand” the motivation for Georgia Straight freelance reporter Laura Robinson’s story, published last Thursday. He claims he’s a victim of contempt.

“The damage to us is massive and will be immeasurably detrimental to us for years to come,” the Whitecaps executive chairman said of his and his family’s reputation.

Robinson’s story, headlined “John Furlong biography omits secret past in Burns Lake,” is centered on how the Furlong biography Patriot Hearts, published last year, does not mention his time spent in Canada in 1969. The reporter’s story contains accounts of abuse submitted through eight affidavits from former students at the school.

Furlong said at a news conference after the story was published that he was in Burns Lake, B.C., during that time period, but insisted he “treated everyone in a fair, appropriate manner and at no time unlawfully or harmfully.”