The U.S. Center for SafeSport has assigned an investigator to the Anna Li abuse case and will begin interviewing alleged victims and their parents in the coming weeks about allegations that Li, a former U.S. national team member, and her mother physically, verbally and emotionally abused young female gymnasts at their suburban Chicago gym.

Libby Bailey, a senior investigator for SafeSport, this week began contacting alleged victims of Li, a former member of USA Gymnastics’ high profile Athletes’ Council and UCLA All-American, and her mother Jiani Wu, an Olympic medalist for China, according to SafeSport documents.

Bailey’s assignment to the case comes nearly six months after the center took jurisdiction in the case and more than two years after Mark Busby, USA Gymnastics general counsel, and Toby R. Stark, then the organization’s director for SafeSport, confirmed in a series of September 2017 emails that USA Gymnastics had received allegations of “verbal, physical and emotional abuse” against Li, an alternate on the gold medal-winning 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and Wu, a former U.S. national team coach.

SafeSport’s contact with alleged victims and their parents this week also comes after months of growing complaints over the center’s failure to assign an investigator and its lack of responsiveness to families. Parents of alleged victims said it often took SafeSport officials weeks, even months to respond to questions or requests for updates if they responded at all.

Li and Wu, coaches at Legacy Elite Gymnastics, the Aurora, Illinois gym owned by the family, are allegedly routinely verbally, emotionally and, in the case of Wu, physically abusive toward young female gymnasts, the Southern California News Group reported in August citing interviews with gymnasts and their parents, confidential formal complaints to USA Gymnastics, and emails to a USA Gymnastics national team sport psychologist.

Li and Wu have not been informed of the SafeSport investigator assignment, according to their attorney, Sam L. Amirante. Li and Wu deny any wrongdoing.

“There’s a process the Center goes through in its prioritization of cases, it’s not simply when the come in, there’s triage,” said Dan Hill, a spokesman for SafeSport. “Of course those involving children and allegations of sexual abuse are given the highest priority. All matters are important and the Center does its best with the resources it has to be thorough and responsive.”

Gymnasts and their parents allege that Li disparaged gymnasts in front of their peers on a “daily basis,” regularly called girls fat, pressured injured athletes to train or compete, and threatened to make negative comments to college coaches recruiting them if they struggled in training, were unable to train or compete because of injuries or illness, or appeared in Li’s opinion overweight, according to interviews with multiple gymnasts and parents and formal complaints filed with USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

Wu on multiple occasions pulled young gymnasts by their hair when she was dissatisfied with their training, including at least one occasion when Wu allegedly pulled a girl by her ponytail to the ground, according to interviews and submitted complaints to the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Gymnastics.

A parent in a complaint with USA Gymnastics said she witnessed “Hair pulling under the guise of physical coaching.”

Another parent, Carmen Scanlon said Wu pulled her 10-year-old daughter by her hair off a balance beam to the floor when the girl didn’t perform a skill to her satisfaction.

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 Li and Wu also encouraged gymnasts to be treated by former U.S. Olympic and women’s national team physician Larry Nassar at Michigan State’s sports medicine clinic where he was employed. Nassar is currently serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison for possession of child pornography. He was sentenced in 2018 to between 40 and 175 years and 40 and 125 years after pleading guilty to a total 10 charges of sexual assault in two Michigan state cases.

At least four Legacy gymnasts were sexually assaulted by Nassar, according to three people familiar with the cases including an attorney for multiple Nassar victims. One parent said their daughter was treated by Nassar but was not sexually assaulted by him.

Li has alleged she was also sexually abused by Nassar.