The more than three-year long abuse case against Maggie Haney, coach of Olympic and world champion gymnasts, could extend well into the Olympic year, potentially creating a significant storyline as American athletes prepare for the Olympic Trials and the 2020 Tokyo Games, the Southern California News Group has learned.

USA Gymnastics has postponed a hearing scheduled for next Wednesday on allegations of verbal and emotional abuse allegations against Haney, according to persons familiar with the investigation.

The postponement marks the second delay in a month in a case in which the first allegations against Haney were reported to USA Gymnastics shortly after the 2016 Olympic Games as the organization’s chief executive officer Steve Penny and other top officials scrambled to contain the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

USA Gymnastics said “The hearing was postponed at the request of Ms. Haney’s counsel due to personal matters.”

The latest delay in the Haney case comes just days after USA Gymnastics CEO Li Li Leung wrote in an open letter to the gymnastics community that “2020 will be an important year as we continue to shift the organization to be more athlete-centric, while also focusing on reaching resolution with the survivors and emerging from bankruptcy. For our elite athletes and coaches, this year represents the final leg of the journey toward achieving dreams of making the acrobatic World Championships or U.S. Olympic Teams for gymnastics.

“As we continue to move forward, I want you to know that we will never forget the lessons of the past that serve as the foundation for both changing and rebuilding for the future.”

As many as 11 gymnasts and members of their families were expected to participate in the hearing on a series of charges against Haney, according to five people familiar with the case.

Haney through her attorney has denied any wrongdoing.

Haney is alleged to have screamed and cursed at, threatened, bullied, and harassed more than a dozen gymnasts on a regular basis at MG Elite Gymnastics, a club in a New Jersey suburb of New York City, according to USA Gymnastics documents and interviews. Haney is also alleged to have told injured gymnasts to remove medical devices such as boot casts and continue training and competing, according USA Gymnastics documents and interviews.

USA Gymnastics is also investigating whether Haney threatened to retaliate against gymnasts and others in the sport if they made allegations against her to USA Gymnastics or the media, according to four people familiar with the investigation.

Haney received a formal notice of the allegations against her on June 4, her attorney said. She was interviewed by USA Gymnastics on June 14, taking part in a video conference with Busby and a USA Gymnastics investigator while she attended a U.S. national team training camp in Sarasota.

Related Articles Gymnasts, parents recount abuse by coaches at Azarian Gymnastics

Special Report: Maggie Haney still working with gymnasts despite suspension

2028 Olympic logos released for games in Los Angeles

Court rejects Terin Humphrey bid to join Nassar case, citing missed filing deadline

Survivors’ attorneys ask court to reject Terin Humphrey claim against Larry Nassar Haney, a former North Carolina State gymnast, while under investigation has continued coaching young athletes at MG Elite. She was also part of the Team USA staff at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru this past summer and attended a recent U.S. national team camp in Florida.

Haney has gained international prominence for coaching 2016 Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez and Riley McCusker, who won a gold medal with the U.S. squad in the team competition at the 2018 World Championships and is considered a contender for multiple medals at next summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. McCusker missed the World Championships last fall because of a muscle ailment frequently linked to overtraining. She has since resumed training with Haney.

Hernandez took more than a year off from the sport after the Rio de Janeiro Games. She returned to gymnastics in 2018 and is training at Gym-Max in Costa Mesa, the same club that produced Olympic and World champion Kyla Ross.

Hernandez and McCusker are both considered top contenders to make the 2020 Olympic team .

Hernandez, McCusker and Haney are scheduled to take part in a U.S. national team training camp next week in Indianapolis.