USA Gymnastics and Olympic sports watchdog failed to stop coach's sexual
abuse, lawsuits allege
[December 02, 2025]
By RYAN J. FOLEY and EDDIE PELLS
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two gymnasts who say they were sexually abused at
an elite academy in Iowa filed lawsuits Monday against the sport’s
oversight bodies, alleging they failed to stop Sean Gardner from preying
on girls despite repeated complaints about the coach's behavior.
The lawsuits allege USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport
were told about “inappropriate and abusive behaviors” in December 2017,
including that Gardner was hugging and kissing girls and engaging in
other grooming behaviors while coaching at a Mississippi gym.
The organizations failed to properly investigate, revoke Gardner's
coaching credentials, report him to law enforcement or take other
actions to protect athletes, the lawsuits allege. They claim the
inaction enabled Gardner to get a job at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance
Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 2018, where the gymnasts say they
and other preteen and teenage girls were abused despite additional
complaints about Gardner.
The institute was founded by prominent coach Liang “Chow” Qiao, who is
known for producing Olympic champions and was also named as a defendant
in the lawsuits.
Lawsuits are first filed since Gardner's arrest
The lawsuits, filed in Polk County, Iowa, are the first civil cases
brought in an abuse scandal that came to light in a series of reports by
The Associated Press after the FBI arrested Gardner in August. They
allege USA Gymnastics and SafeSport, the watchdog created by Congress to
investigate misconduct in Olympic sports in the aftermath of the Larry
Nassar sexual abuse scandal, missed repeated opportunities to stop
Gardner.
“It illustrates in my view that the culture of money and medals over
child safety is still alive and well in USA Gymnastics and the Olympic
system,” said California attorney John Manly, who represented Nassar's
victims and is part of the legal team that filed the Iowa cases. “What
he did was profoundly evil and they let him do it.”
SafeSport said Monday it had not been served with the lawsuit and
typically does not comment on litigation. It noted that its 2022
temporary suspension of Gardner came “upon receiving the first report of
sexual misconduct" against him and was published in its online database
of disciplinary action. That was “the only reason Gardner was barred
from coaching young athletes in the years until his arrest," it said.
Gardner's sanction escalated from “temporary suspension” to “ineligible”
on Sept. 12 due to his arrest.
Responding to questions in August about the original AP reporting, the
center said it had been notified by USA Gymnastics that a gym where
Gardner worked had resolved a 2018 case involving the coach that didn't
pertain to sexual misconduct. The center said coaches at Chow’s were
aware of subsequent allegations involving sexual misconduct but failed
to report them.
USA Gymnastics spokesperson Jill Geer said Monday the organization
appreciates “the seriousness of this case” but declined further comment.
Gardner faces federal child pornography charges for allegedly placing a
hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis,
Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018 to record his
students. Investigators say he created videos showing close-up images of
at least 10 minors naked or undressing, which they recovered from his
computers last year while investigating reports of sexual abuse.
Gardner has pleaded not guilty and has been jailed pending trial, which
is scheduled for next month. His attorney didn't return a message
seeking comment.
Plaintiffs in lawsuits are now college students
The lawsuits allege the plaintiffs were 11- and 12-year-old trainees at
Chow's who dreamed of one day competing in the Olympics when they began
training under Gardner in 2018. They say they were subjected to
“physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, harassment and molestation”
until they quit the gym years later.
[to top of second column]
|
This booking photo provided by the Des Moines, Iowa, Polk County
Sheriff's Office shows Sean Gardner on Aug. 14, 2025. (Polk County
Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
The plaintiffs include Iowa State gymnast Finley Weldon, who
reported claims of abuse by Gardner to police and later went public
in an AP interview. The other is 19-year-old University of Iowa
student Hailey Gear, who also wants to go public with her
allegations, according to her attorney, Elizabeth Pudenz. They seek
unspecified damages for their injuries and treatment expenses.
Several other former gymnasts have reported abuse, and more lawsuits
are expected.
The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse unless
they come forward publicly.
In addition to USA Gymnastics and SafeSport, the defendants named in
the lawsuit are Qiao, the former Chinese gymnast who opened Chow’s
in 1998 and coached Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby
Douglas; Qiao’s wife, Liwen Zhuan, a coach who helps run the gym;
and their family corporations that own the business and the property
on which it sits.
Lawsuits detail concerns over Gardner's ‘grooming behavior’
The lawsuits allege all the defendants were negligent in how they
responded to reports of Gardner's misconduct.
The parents of a gymnast filed reports with USA Gymnastics and
SafeSport in December 2017 alleging Gardner required girls to give
him long hugs after every training in Mississippi and that he kicked
one girl out who refused, the lawsuits claim. He allegedly had an
improper closed-door meeting with a girl whom he verbally abused,
kissed gymnasts on their foreheads, drank alcohol excessively in
front of them, made sexual jokes to girls and inappropriate comments
on social media, and stalked one girl who he was instructed to stop
contacting, the lawsuits claim.
Gardner's then-boss also reported to USA Gymnastics in January 2018
that Gardner had engaged in “grooming behaviors," but he was allowed
to continue coaching.
The lawsuits allege SafeSport received another report from a parent
at Chow's “concerning improper behaviors" by Gardner in September
2020 but failed to investigate.
The lawsuits allege Qiao and Zhuan failed to conduct an adequate
background check before hiring Gardner and continued to employ him
even after receiving complaints that he inappropriately touched
girls while spotting them during exercises.
Qiao and Zhuan didn't return a message left at Chow's. The gym has
said that Gardner passed a standard background check, and it fired
Gardner after he was suspended by SafeSport in July 2022, even
though “there had been no finding of misconduct at that time.”
___
Pells reported from Denver.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
