Canadian figure skater Nikolaj Sorensen has been banned for at least six years over allegations of “sexual assault,” the country’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) announced Wednesday.
The ban followed an OSIC investigation into claims that 35-year-old Sorenson had sexually assaulted an American coach and former skater in Connecticut twelve years earlier.
Despite the public allegations, Sorensen and skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry remained active until January, when the pair withdrew from the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Sorensen has denied the allegations and has not been charged.
Christine Brennan of USA Today unveiled the investigation in January, reporting at the time that a 23-year-old Sorensen held a woman down on a bed after a party near Hartford on April 12, 2012.
Canadian Olympic figure skater Nikolaj Sorensen has been banned for at least six years
“He pinned me down with his left arm across my collarbone,” the woman alleged in the report to Canada’s OSIC and the U.S. Center for SafeSport. ‘He pushed hard on my collarbone, causing me to gasp for air as he inserted his penis into my vagina and held his right hand over my mouth.’
She continued, “All sound became virtually inaudible at that point and I felt like I was suffocating under the pressure of his arm on my collarbone and chest.
‘I was pushing my arms against his hips to try to get his penis out of me and I was struggling to breathe. At that moment I feared for my life and let my body go limp as I lay there and he raped me.”
The unidentified plaintiff is represented by Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead, who is now a leading Title IX attorney and founder of the nonprofit Champion Women.
The OSIC previously suspended seven other athletes, five of whom were accused of sexual assault.