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AURORA, Ill. (WLS) — SafeSport has suspended a suburban girls gymnastics coach and a club’s co-owner for alleged abuse after a years-long investigation, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
The CEO of SafeSport is apologizing for the years it took to suspend the two gymnastics coaches. A former gymnast and her mother spoke with ABC7 about the alleged abuse they say went on for years at Legacy Elite.
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Legacy Elite is a gymnastics club in Aurora. Head Coach Anna Li and her mother, Jiani Wu, have been suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport after a nearly six-year investigation.
SafeSport’s disciplinary database lists the misconduct as “physical and emotional.”
I was, like, physically pushed into the beam and I actually got, like, a burn on my leg and it was bleeding. At the time, I kind of blamed myself, but later on I realized that this wasn’t right that they were hurting me.
Riley Milbrandt, former Legacy Elite gymnast
The ruling was handed down Wednesday by the watchdog agency, which responds to complaints in Olympic sports. It has faced criticism for its effectiveness in handling those investigations.
SafeSport’s CEO told the ABC 7 I-Team in a statement in part, “I am sorry that it took nearly 6 years to bring answers.”
The cheers and triumph that come with gymnastics competing served as a faade in a 2018 video for the five years of alleged abuse Riley Milbrandt says she endured at Legacy Elite in Aurora between the ages of 11 and 16 years old. She is now 22 and is no longer with the club.
“I was, like, physically pushed into the beam and I actually got, like, a burn on my leg and it was bleeding,” Milbrandt said. “At the time, I kind of blamed myself, but later on I realized that this wasn’t right that they were hurting me.”
Milbrandt and her mother then became part of multiple complaints filed by members and parents alleging “physical and emotional” misconduct at Legacy Elite, leading to the temporary suspensions of Li and Wu, who are both decorated former gymnasts.
“We knew deep down that it was just not a healthy environment,” Riley Milbrandt’s mother, Corrina Milbrandt, said. “I hold a lot of guilt and I would’ve gotten her out of there way sooner had I known what I know now.”
Attorneys for the suspended co-owner and coach told the I-Team the allegations are, “categorically false,” and said they do plan to appeal. The attorneys also said their clients were, “under this type of cloud for years without an opportunity to fully resolve the matter. This is yet another case that clearly illustrates the Center is wholly incapable of reasonable investigations .”
A full report on the investigation will air Friday at 10 p.m. on ABC7.
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