On August 23, a frustrated mother emailed a U.S. Center for SafeSport official asking for an update on the center’s investigation of allegations that two prominent coaches, Anna Li, a former U.S. national team member, and her mother Jiani Wu had physically, verbally and emotionally abused young female athletes they coached at a suburban Chicago gymnastics club.

Nearly a month earlier the mother and other parents whose daughters had trained with Li and Wu filed with USA Gymnastics the first of more than a dozen formal complaints against the coaches. The U.S. Center for SafeSport took jurisdiction over the case in early August, telling parents in a series of emails obtained by the Southern California News Group that they would be alerted when an investigator was assigned the case.

Now in late August, the mother was asking for at least the third time for an update from the center. A day went by, then another, then a week, then10 days and still the parent heard nothing from the center. Finally on Sept. 4, she received an email from Esther Johnson, the center’s intake coordinator.

“I apologize for the delayed response and I absolutely understand your concern regarding the assignment procedure,” Johnson wrote in the email. “Please do know that the Center is working hard to move through the process in a timely and efficient manner. We appreciate your patience and understanding.”

More than seven weeks since Johnson’s email, and three months since the first complaints were filed against Li and Wu, parents in the case said they have run out of patience with the center.

Echoing complaints about the U.S. Center for SafeSport from Capitol Hill, former Olympians and parents across the nation, current and former Legacy families said in a series of interviews they are outraged by the center’s delay in assigning an investigator to the case and how long it has taken SafeSport officials to respond to their phone calls and emails if they respond at all. One parent said Johnson has not responded to two emails she sent the center official last month.

“I’m very upset,” said Carmen Scanlon, who alleges Wu pulled her then 10-year-old daughter by her hair off a balance beam to the floor when the girl was unable to perform a skill to Wu’s satisfaction. “I don’t know what’s going on in the case. We haven’t heard anything from SafeSport. Nobody has tried to find out about what happened to my daughter.”

Another parent wrote in a Sept. 16 email to Johnson “There are 15 complaints against this gym and almost 20 people claiming emotional, verbal and physical abuse. To say that you are working in a timely manner is an outrage! It’s been 2 months since the first complaint was filed against this gym! How long does it take to assign an investigator??? Pick one!!! This center wasn’t put in place to protect athletes and their well being. It’s a system that’s set up to fail and I’m so disgusted and disappointed in it.”

The parents of current and former Legacy gymnasts said they are also concerned about the message the delays in the Li and Wu case sends to future victims in other cases.

“If this is going to go nowhere, if SafeSport isn’t going to do anything, I don’t know what the point of (victims) coming forward,” Scanlon said.

The Legacy case reflects the challenges facing the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic created and financed U.S. Center for SafeSport. Congress, former Olympians, athlete rights advocates and safe sport experts have complained since the center opened in March 2017 that it is underfunded and understaffed.

“The center is averaging roughly 250 reports of abuse per month which inevitably leads to a need to triage cases so that the most severe cases get prioritized,” said Dan Hill, a SafeSport spokesman. “All reports are important and the center opposes abuse in any form, which is why all abuse is covered by the (SafeSport) code. While it may never be possible to ensure every party gets an immediate response, that doesn’t mean SafeSport isn’t looking at ways to enhance communication without taking resources away from investigations.”

The center is currently receiving 239 complaints per month, up from 154 a month a year ago. SafeSport has closed 2,237 cases since it opened, with 1,290 still outstanding, according to the center. Center officials said its current staff of 37, which includes 18 attorneys or investigators, will have to double by next year and triple by 2023 to keep up with its case volume.

While the center asserts that it is independent from the USOPC, it still relies on the organization for the majority of its funding. USOPC and center officials have acknowledged the funding and staffing concerns and the USOPC has committed to increasing its funding of the center.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) earlier this year would require the USOPC to contribute $20 million annually to the center and mandate it publicly list all individuals barred from USOPC-sanctioned sports for sexual or physical abuse.

“With further dollars funding SafeSport, we continue to believe that (USOPC) can do more to support that effort, and that is the reason for additional financial support,” Moran said. “The (USOPC) has a lot to gain in that all athletes are treated appropriately.”

More than a dozen formal complaints to the center and USA Gymnastics as well as emails to USA Gymnastics national team sport psychologist, obtained by SCNG detail alleged routine physical, verbal and emotional abuse by Li, a UCLA All-American and alternate on the gold medal-winning 2012 U. S. Olympic team, and Wu, an Olympic medalist for China and former U.S. national team coach.

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The 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 the center and USA Gymnastics.

Wu on multiple occasions is alleged to have 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 all the way to the ground, according to interviews and submitted to the center and USA Gymnastics.

“Jiani yanked her off the high beam, pulled her to the ground, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to some mats and then sat on her back,” Scanlon said. “I was there. I saw it. I was stupid. I didn’t know what to do. We should have left (the club) that day. We left a month later.”

Li and Wu also allegedly steered Legacy 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, according to complaints and interviews. 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.

Li has alleged she was also sexually abused by Nassar.

USA Gymnastics announced Li resigned from the organization’s high profile Athletes’ Council in August, a week after the SCNG first reported the allegations against her and her mother. Li and Wu have denied any wrongdoing. They declined to comment for this article, Sam L. Amirante, their attorney, said.

SCNG also reported in August that top USA Gymnastic officials have been aware of physical, verbal and emotional allegations against Li and Wu since at least 2017, nearly two years earlier than the national governing body has acknowledged.

Mark Busby, USA Gymnastics general counsel, and Toby R. Stark, then the organization’s director for Safe Sport confirmed in a series of September 2017 emails that USA Gymnastics had received allegations of “verbal, physical and emotional abuse” against Li and Wu.

The Busby and Stark emails contradict statements by USA Gymnastics president and chief executive officer Li Li Leung in August denying that the organization was aware of complaints against Li and Wu prior to Li being named to USA Gymnastics’ high profile Athletes Council in June.

USA Gymnastics began receiving a new wave of complaints against Li and Wu in late July 2019. On July 27, one mother filed a 600-word complaint with USA Gymnastics alleging physical, verbal and emotional abuse against the coaches. The mother alleged in the complaint that Wu pushed her daughter, sending her crashing into equipment. Girls were routinely forced to do 10-minute handstands as punishment for failing to execute skills, the parent alleged. She also alleged her daughter was forced to stand by herself against a wall as punishment for two hours. Failing to meet Li and Wu’s standards also resulted in girls being forced to sit in an inflatable floatie in the middle of the gym for hours, one girl for five hours, the mother wrote.

“Girls were forced to practice on injuries,” the mother wrote. “…Coaches thought they were above the doctors. They told the girls that they know more than the doctors do because of the length of time they have been in the sport. They said they never needed lists from doctors, that they knew how to manage all injuries. Therapy lists were torn up and thrown in the garbage. Girls were never believed when they were hurting, in pain or had injuries. Girls were told that they were faking the injury because they didn’t want to do a certain skill or they were afraid.

“Hair was pulled and girls were constantly body shamed. Both coaches told several girls they were too fat, had too much cellulite and if they couldn’t make a bar routine, they were too big. Coaches would inspect what the girls were eating in (an elite training group) and ask what they were eating for dinner at night. My daughter was mocked and laughed at and told she was lying when she responded with “My mom is making a salad for dinner tonight.”

Shelba Waldron, USA Gymnastics director of Safe Sport education and training, informed the parent on August 5 that the U.S. Center for SafeSport had taken jurisdiction over the case.

Johnson, the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s intake coordinator, contacted the parent via email on August 13 to “determine whether or not you would feel comfortable participating through our investigative process.” The mother responded that same day that she and her daughter would cooperate with the center’s investigation.

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Special Report: Maggie Haney still working with gymnasts despite suspension A day later Johnson confirmed in an email to the mother “We have updated our records to reflect your/your daughter’s willingness to participate in our process. Attached for your information and reference is a copy of the SafeSport Code which includes detailed information about the process. A Center investigator will reach out to you once assigned.”

The mother inquired about a timeline when an investigator might be assigned.

“I cannot provide you with a timeframe for investigator assignment as that is determined by our leadership based on investigator availability,” Johnson replied in an August 15 email. “You will be notified via email once an investigator is assigned, and he or she will reach out to you to schedule an interview.”

Ten weeks later Li and Wu continue coaching at Legacy and the mother and other parents are still waiting to be contacted by a U.S. Center for SafeSport investigator.

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