US gymnastics coach gets 8-year ban

LOS ANGELES • Maggie Haney, an elite gymnastics coach who was accused of verbally abusing and mistreating athletes, has been suspended from the sport for eight years by USA Gymnastics after a weeks-long disciplinary hearing.

The accusations against her, which included forcing athletes to train through injury, were laid out in USA Gymnastics documents and interviews with two people with knowledge of the hearing.

The suspension was confirmed by the federation in a statement on Wednesday.

Haney, 42, owns MG Elite Gymnastics in Morganville, New Jersey, where until recently she coached Riley McCusker, a member of the US team that won the 2018 world championships and is considered a strong candidate to make the US team for the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Laurie Hernandez, a 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist in the team event, also used to train under her at the same gym.

Haney has had at least one athlete on the junior or senior national team every year since 2013, and had been coaching at national team camps up until the start of the hearing on Feb 3.

At least six families made accusations about verbal abuse and the mistreatment of gymnasts, according to Karen Goeller, another New Jersey-based coach.

She submitted a formal complaint against Haney last May, alleging that the latter also "forced (gymnasts) to remove casts and train on injured limbs".

USA Gymnastics said that an independent hearing panel had determined Haney would be barred from membership in the federation "and any coaching of USA Gymnastics athletes or in member clubs".

Hernandez also testified against Haney and McCusker wrote a letter that criticised her, according to the Orange County Register.

A two-year probationary period is to follow the suspension and after that, Haney will be allowed to reapply for membership following the submission of proof she has completed specified courses overseen by the US Centre for SafeSport, the organisation that investigates incidents of misconduct in Olympic sports.

The 42-year-old, who has also been accused of threatening complainants, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

However, her lawyer Russell Prince said that his client disagreed with the hearing panel's findings.

"We don't think that it in any way, shape or form evaluated all of the facts of the circumstances," he added. "The process is completely heavy-handed. I would anticipate an arbitration."

Judie Sanders, a lawyer representing Hernandez and some of the other gymnasts in the case, said the penalties against Haney were "a micro-step in the right direction for how athletes are treated in the hyper-competitive world of sports".

Haney's suspension is the latest turbulence in a period of upheaval for USA Gymnastics after revelations that its former team doctor Larry Nassar had sexually abused hundreds of athletes.

The organisation has filed for bankruptcy, offering US$217 million (S$305.8 million) to settle legal claims brought by athletes molested by Nassar, who in 2018 received prison sentences of up to 175 years.

NYTIMES