Valeri Liukin, a gymnastics coach who is in the running to be named the high-performance director for USA Gymnastics and considered the favorite to earn the gig, is reportedly "under investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for multiple allegations of verbal and psychological abuse of young gymnasts," per Scott M. Reid of The Orange County Register.
According to that report, USA Gymnastics and its CEO Li Li Leung, chief programs officer Stefanie Korepin and women's program vice president Annie Heffernan have known about the allegations and investigation since Feb. 9.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport has reportedly been investigating Liukin since Jan. 27.
Multiple gymnasts said they were "routinely berated, belittled and screamed at by Liukin, that he forced them to compete and train on broken bones or when they were ill, and they were fat-shamed daily, according to SafeSport complaints and USA Gymnastics documents and multiple interviews by SCNG."
Several said the abuse began when they were as young as 10 years old.
"Being called fat, worthless, weak, stupid, idiot, etc. was a normal occurrence," former U.S. national team gymnast McKenzie Wofford wrote in a complaint to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. "Going into the gym, I was terrified about what was going to happen that day. While there were multiple incidents that were traumatizing."
Wofford also said that Liukin forced her to continue practicing at a 2011 U.S. national team training camp despite the young gymnast having a fever and diarrhea. He allegedly accused her of "being a wimp and faking" and made her "show the trainer my diarrhea after I went one time in front of everyone."
"Valeri always said I was lazy, he said that I'm fat, I'm useless and I'm not ever going to amount to anything in life and I believed all of it," said Megan Marenghi, who overdosed twice and attempted suicide after she said a feeling of worthlessness continued to fester following her time training with Liukin. "I thought he was right. I amounted to nothing. Why am I still here?"
Liukin is the father of Nastia Liukin, a five-time Olympic medalist who won the all-around gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. Marenghi said she saw the elder Liukin scream at his daughter and push her up against the wall, leaving her in tears.
He also allegedly forced his young gymnasts to use a treadmill during the summer in Texas while wearing sweatsuits if he decided they were overweight.
USA Gymnastics has continued to be under the microscope in the wake of former team doctor Larry Nassar allegedly sexually assaulting as many as 500 girls and women during his time with the national team and at Michigan State.
Nassar was convicted on a number of charges and will spend the rest of his life in prison. The U.S. Olympic Committee settled with the survivors of Nassar's abuse to the tune of $380 million.
"After Nassar, the biggest promise USA Gymnastics made was they were going to change the culture," Wofford's mother Kristie said. "They were going to clear out who was there when Nassar was there, who was there when all of it went on. Valeri was dead in the middle of it and now for him to come back? I would be very concerned with Valeri bringing back the old culture of mental abuse that he put those girls through."
