canadian Nikolai Sorensen who competes in ice dancing with Laurence Fournier-Baudry, is accused of sexually assaulting an unnamed former American figure skater and now coach in 2012, USA TODAY Sports reports.
According to the source, Sorensen is under investigation by the Office of the Canadian Sport Integrity Commissioner. The alleged rape took place on April 21, 2012 in Connecticut.
The source does not release the name of the alleged victim, but cites her in a report from the US Center for Safe Sports. The woman, who was 22 at the time of the incident, described the rape in detail, saying she feared for her life. She also said she remained silent for years and never spoke to police or sports officials because she was afraid she would be accused of defamation and no one would believe her. She sought mental health treatment and considered filing a criminal complaint in Connecticut, but discovered the statute of limitations for such action had expired, according to the report.
The woman admitted that she decided to file a complaint against Sorensen after discovering an online article in July 2023 containing an interview with the skater in which he commented on the importance of ensuring the safety of women in ice dancing.
“I couldn’t believe the words that came out of the rapist’s mouth. At that point, I realized that mothers would most likely send their daughters to train with him (as a coach) after he retired as an athlete, and I couldn’t live with the guilt of knowing that I had never told anyone about it from authority figures,” the anonymous woman reportedly said.
Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who founded a nonprofit legal organization to protect the rights of girls and women in sports, said she was supporting an alleged sexual assault victim.
Sorensen is 34 years old; he played for Denmark early in his career and began representing Canada in the 2018/19 season. Paired with Baudry, he finished ninth at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and fifth at last year’s world championships. They finished fifth in the 2023 Grand Prix Final in Beijing in early December and are scheduled to compete next week at the Canadian Championships, where they are defending champions, as well as the 2024 World Championships in Montreal in March.
Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.
