Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse that may be offensive to some readers or painful to survivors of sexual assault.
Canadian Olympic figure skater Nikolaj Sørensen, one of the top-ranked ice dancers in the world, is under investigation by the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner of Canada for the alleged sexual assault of a figure skating coach and former U.S. figure skater on April 21, 2012, according to documents and emails obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The documents say the woman, then 22, said Sørensen, then 23, held her against her will on a bed after a party at a condominium near Hartford, Connecticut.
“He pinned me with his left arm across my collarbone,” the woman said in a report submitted to Canada's OSIC and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports. “He pressed hard on my collarbone, making me gasp as he inserted his penis into my vagina and covered his right hand over my mouth.”
The report continues: “At that point, all sounds became virtually inaudible and I felt like I was suffocating from the pressure of his arm on my collarbone and chest. I pushed my arms against his hips to try to pull his penis out of me and I was having trouble breathing. At that point I feared for my life and let my body go limp as I lay there and he raped me.
The woman has not been identified because USA TODAY Sports does not publish the names of victims of alleged sexual abuse.
Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead, a well-known Title IX attorney who founded Champion Women, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization for girls and women in sports, told USA TODAY Sports that she represented the victim of the alleged sexual abuse. Hogshead confirmed that an investigation into Sørensen was ongoing, but said she could not comment further due to a confidentiality agreement mandated by OSIC.
Multiple attempts to reach Sørensen via email, social media messages, his coach and the agency that represents him went unanswered.
Karine Bédard, director of communications and branding for Skate Canada, the national governing body for figure skating, said in an email: “In accordance with our policies, Skate Canada has no knowledge of the matters brought before the OSIC. »
Bédard did not respond to several requests for comment from Sørensen himself.
A spokeswoman for the Sport Dispute Resolution Center of Canada said in an email that OSIC “operates within existing privacy settings and, as such, the office does not comment on any possible or pending matters.”
Although the U.S. Center for SafeSport has been informed of the allegations against Sørensen, it currently has no jurisdiction over Sørensen because he does not skate for the United States, according to a document obtained by USA TODAY Sports. However, this document reveals that SafeSport placed Sørensen “on administrative hold”, meaning that if he were to apply to become a member of US Figure Skating in the future (a process necessary to coach figure skating in the United States) , SafeSport would then begin its activity. investigation process.
Sørensen, now 34, competed for his native Denmark earlier in his career and then represented Canada starting in the 2018-19 skating season. He became a Canadian citizen in September 2021. He finished ninth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and fifth at last year's World Championships with his ice dancing partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry. They finished fifth in the 2023 Grand Prix Final in Beijing in early December and are scheduled to compete at the Canadian national championships next week, where they are defending champions, as well as the 2024 world championships in Montreal in March.
According to the report, the woman said she remained silent for years and never contacted police or sports officials because she feared she would be blamed and that no one would believe her.
The report said she sought psychological treatment and considered filing a criminal complaint in Connecticut, but discovered the statute of limitations for such action had expired.
Then, on July 22, 2023, according to the report, she opened an online article containing an interview with Sørensen in which he commented on the importance of ensuring the safety of women in ice dancing.
“I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of the rapist’s mouth,” the woman said according to the report. “At that point, I realized that mothers would probably send their daughters to train with him (as a coach) at some point after he retired from competitive skating, and I couldn't live with the guilt knowing I never told any authority figure about it. .”
According to the report, the woman filed her report with OSIC the same day.