By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-12 07:51:23 | Updated at 2025-01-12 11:01:51
3 hours ago
Two former Olympians have been banned from coaching gymnastics for their shocking abuse of young students.
Anna Li, 36, was suspended by US Center for SafeSport from all USA Gymnastics-affiliated coaching for nine months and her mother Jiani Wu, 58, for a year.
Wu's husband, Yuejin Li, 66, was put on probation for nine months but not suspended, and will continue to run their Legacy Elite gym in Aurora, Illinois.
SafeSport found a 'preponderance of the evidence' that the trio physically and mentally abused young gymnasts for many years.
There were no claims of sexual abuse, like those against former Olympic coach Larry Nassar, which prompted SafeSport to be established to investigate abuse claims.
Wu is a former Chinese Olympic medalist and former USA Gymnastics national team coach and Li a former US national team member and eight-time UCLA All-American.
Li and Wu were suspended after an almost six-year investigation of complaints to USA Gymnastics that were made public in 2019.
Both they and parents of the abused gymnasts complained about the length of the probe, which SafeSport boss Ju'Riese Colon admitted 'simply took too long'.
Anna Li competes on the beam during day 2 of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team Trials on June 29, 2012 in San Jose, California
Wu Jiani performs in the Women's Balance Beam event during that 1984 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles
At least 15 people filed complaints and SafeSport compiled about 50 witnesses, but others gymnasts and parents said they didn't report abuse or stopped cooperating because the agency was unresponsive.
Others said they feared Li would badmouth them to universities, or mark them down when judging national or regional competitions to harm their careers.
SafeSport found the gymnasts and their parents were 'credible in their retelling of their experiences at the gym' and provided photos to back up their claims.
'Their accounts were corroborated by other witnesses, and independent retellings of the same, pervasive issues were given to the center.
'For the most part [Li and Wu] all denied the allegations… and provided information in an effort to discredit claimants and their parents.'
The SafeSport notice of decision, released on Wednesday, and complaints by parents submitted to it, detailed the shocking abuse.
Li once screamed at one girl to 'get your fat ass over the vault' and told her 'you're too fat to get over the vault'.
Riley Milbrandt, one of the gymnasts who went public about the abuse she suffered, was once pushed by Wu while doing a handstand and fell onto the balance beam.
Another time, when the coaches were dissatisfied with her performance, she was forced to stand against a wall for two hours.
Wu told the other gymnasts they too would face that punishment if they spoke to her.
Wu pushed a student into a beam, causing injury; forced a student with a broken foot to remove her orthopedic boot and run; assigned excessive conditioning as punishment
Li Yuejiu and Wu Jiani co-own Legacy Elite gym in Aurora, Illinois, where the abuse occurred
A similar complaint was made about Li kicking a student out of practice, and instructing the class not to talk to her, saying 'she's being a baby'.
Other times the coaches called athletes scaredy cats, 'too mental,' 'head cases,' and asked if they were 'stupid', according to SafeSport complaints.
Another punishment when Li or Wu thought gymnasts weren't putting in enough effort was to be sat down in an inflatable pool in the corner of the gym.
Even their bathroom time was restricted and closely monitored. Gymnasts were only allowed one per practice, all of which were logged on a sign-in sheet, and if they took more than two minutes they were punished with extra drills.
There was also rampant physical abuse, according to the complaints, interviews by SafeSport, and the notice of decision.
'Hair was pulled and girls were constantly body-shamed,' one parents wrote in a complaint, and another wrote that she witnessed 'hair pulling under the guise of physical coaching'.
One claim recounted in detail was when Wu pulled a girl to the ground by her ponytail when she was unhappy with her training performance.
Carmen Scanlon, the mother of a 10-year-old gymnast who she complained was abused, claimed her daughter was pulled on a beam to the floor.
'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,' she told the Orange County Register.
'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.'
Another complaint alleged a 'child had tape placed over (her) mouth for 2 hours'.
Li competes on the uneven bars during the Division I Women's Gymnastics Championship held at the University of Florida
Sometimes the abuse led to injuries, and even when athletes were hurt in training accidents, they were told to carry on.
'Coaches thought they were above the doctors,' a parent claimed in a complaint to SafeSport.
'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.'
Another time, a gymnast who was required to do a 10-minute handstand, fell and hit her head, knocking her out and giving her whiplash - but was made to keep swinging on the bars by Wu.
The notice of decision summarized the claims SafeSport found credible against the two coaches, along with Yuejin Li.
Wu pushed a student into a beam, causing injury; forced a student with a broken foot to remove her orthopedic boot and run; assigned excessive conditioning as punishment.
She also yelled and called athletes names, body shamed athletes, and kicked an athlete out of practice on a weekly basis.
Li pushed an athlete in the stomach and grabbed her by the legs or stomach and pulled her off the high bar, called five athletes names, body shamed gymnasts, and assigned excessive conditioning.
She also forced students to take off casts, splints, and orthopedic boots and to train and compete with broken arms, toes, feet, and forced one with a broken back to do 10 rope climbs.
Yuejin Li was found to have thrown a shoe, slapped, and grabbed a gymnast around the neck, called a student a 'crybaby', and participated in the same kind of excessive conditioning as punishment and body shaming as Li and Wu.
During the drawn-out investigation, Li was given numerous high profile assignments by USA Gymnastics' judging selection committee, despite the deluge of allegations.
They included seven in 2024, including the Olympic trials, the US Championships, and a World Cup.
'Not one thing has happened to them. Nothing,' Scanlon said.
'USA Gymnastics doesn't care about the kids unless they're at the top level. Anna has been allowed to do everything she wants despite a plethora of allegations against her.
'The complaints against her are so graphic in detail I don't know how anyone can ignore them.'
Scanlon told the Chicago Tribune she didn't even know about the decision until the last minute, and wasn't kept up to date with the investigation as was promised.
'She was ruthless, so I don't think 12 months suspension is enough,' she said.
Inside the Legacy Elite gym where all the abuse happened
Li and Wu's lawyer, Russell Prince of Prince Sports Law in Florida, said they would appeal the decision, which could take 10 to 14 weeks.
In the meantime, they would step away from Legacy Elite and be replaced by 'other Olympians who are looking to come in' and assist the 'tons of elite-level, high-level coaches' on the gym's staff.
He insisted to the Tribune that the pair complied with the investigation 'without reservation' even though 'the allegations are categorically false'.
Prince claimed they weren't told of the complaints until a year into the probe and were last interviewed three years ago.
Colon apologized to parents and gymnasts involved in the investigation for how long it took to complete.
'The Center takes every matter seriously and works to ensure investigations are thorough, trauma-sensitive, and expeditious,' she said.
'There are instances when it's perceived a matter is taking 'too long' when in fact it's just the nature of this complex work.
Then there are times, such as this, when it simply took too long, and I am sorry that it took nearly six years to bring answers to athletes and the gymnastics community.
'We are continuing with recently implemented systems... to ensure this doesn't happen moving forward.'
