A Paralympian swimmer has accused a former teammate of physical, verbal and sexual abuse, including at last year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
In a suit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for Colorado, the swimmer, 19, who has autism and an intellectual disability, says he was "violently and repeatedly sexually assaulted and harassed" by the teammate, who has cerebral palsy.
The swimmer “defied all odds” to become a world-class athlete who “had his life utterly shattered” by a teammate who holds multiple gold medals and world records, the lawsuit says.
He “no longer feels safe training" at the Olympic training center or attending Paralympic Olympic events and has left “behind the dream to which he had dedicated his entire life, and one of the only environments where he felt appreciated and accepted," the lawsuit says.
The accused teammate did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit accuses the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the U.S. Center for SafeSport — a nonprofit group tasked with responding to and preventing sexual misconduct and abuse — of covering up the alleged abuse and failing to protect the athlete. The lawsuit says the organizations were aware of previous allegations against the teammate and failed to act because of the athlete's competitive success.
The suit alleges that the committee and SafeSport had received accusations that the swimmer had sexually assaulted other team members.
Representatives of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee called the allegations “extremely concerning” and said it is taking them very seriously.
“We’ve made the decision to place two staff members on administrative leave and have also stopped the work of several contractors with U.S. Paralympics Swimming,” the committee said in a statement. “We’re also continuing our investigation of the allegations to help us determine the facts, and we are committed to taking appropriate action.”
Representatives of the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Swimming did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit seeks a jury trial to determine damages to be paid by the teammate, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and SafeSport.
The suit seeks to prohibit the accused athlete from participating in U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee activities or events.
Records show officials in August indefinitely suspended the teammate as a member of USA Swimming, the complaint says.
The suit is the latest allegation that the U.S. Olympic Committee failed to properly respond to accusations of abuse, the complaint says, pointing to findings involving former Olympic gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar and a 2018 lawsuit that accused the committee and USA Taekwondo of sex trafficking.
Previous allegations
The alleged sexual assault against the swimmer began in August 2021, when the athlete — who, according to the complaint, has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old — was in Tokyo for the Paralympic Games, according to the complaint.
The teammates shared a room in the Olympic Village, the suit says.
The teammate was added to SafeSport’s database in September 2020 for “allegations of misconduct,” but his suspension was lifted before the Games, according to the complaint.
The teammate suggested to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials that they facilitate the swimmer's move to the training center in Colorado.
The committee failed to notify the Paralympian's parents about previous allegations — an omission the lawsuit calls "unconscionable" given that the two were set to live together, the complaint says.
A ‘chaperone and coach’
The Paralympian moved, and the teammate acted as his "chaperone and coach," according to the suit.
It says the swimmer's parents were "scolded" after they contacted the nutrition team to discuss their son’s health and weight loss.
The swimmer began refusing to use showers, where the sexual abuse is alleged to have occurred, and started to write stories as a means of escape, one of which featured a character named after the teammate, according to the complaint.
When the Paralympian's parents asked about the story, he told them about the abuse, the complaint says.
The swimmer's coaches told his parents he refused to shower, "yet, USOPC did not inquire why Plaintiff decided to stop showering or whether the showers were a place where Plaintiff did not feel safe," according to the complaint.
Accusations at the training center
In August, the accused teammate left the center, and the swimmer began sharing details of his allegations abuse with his parents, according to the suit. He alleged that his teammate forced him to pay for meals, controlled his food intake and alienated him from his teammates, the lawsuit says.
After the accused teammate returned to the training center, the swimmer told his mother the teammate "had shaken him violently, causing him to hit his head on the wall," according to the complaint.
The athlete left the training facility, where he no longer feels safe, and does not attend Olympic events, the suit says.