Olympic Skater Ashley Wagner Claims John Coughlin Sexually Assaulted Her at 17
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Determine skating champion Ashley Wagner is sharing allegations of sexual assault towards John Coughlin.
In a bit for USA Immediately, printed on Thursday, the Olympic athlete particulars the 2008 incident allegedly involving her fellow skater, who died by suicide in January. In her story, Wagner states that she was simply 17 on the time, whereas Coughlin was 22.
“I used to be attending a determine skating camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a number of the native athletes have been having folks over at a home,” she writes. “I had at all times been hyper-focused on skating, so I had by no means been to a celebration earlier than. I knew everybody there, so it felt prefer it was okay to have a little bit enjoyable. I additionally had by no means had something to drink earlier than, however all of my buddies have been having some and I used to be curious. I needed to slot in.”
“Because the social gathering wound down, nobody may drive me again to the lodge the place I used to be staying, so just a few different women and I needed to spend the evening,” Wagner continues. “It felt protected. My buddies have been there. I used to be supplied up a mattress and did not assume twice about taking it, and shortly drifted off to sleep.”
She then shares that, through the nighttime, she felt Coughlin “crawl into my mattress.”
“I had been sleeping and did not transfer as a result of I did not perceive what it meant,” Wagner writes. “I believed he simply needed a spot to sleep. However then he began kissing my neck. I pretended to be deep asleep, hoping he would cease. He did not. When his arms began to wander, when he began touching me, groping my physique, I attempted to shift round in order that he would assume I used to be waking up and would cease. He did not.”
Determine skater Ashley Wagner, an Olympic bronze medalist and U.S. nationwide champion, tells her story of when she was sexually assaulted at 17 by a fellow skater. pic.twitter.com/yfyO4RCU5C
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“When he continued to wander additional over my physique, I began to get scared as a result of he was a lot larger than I used to be, and I did not know if I may push him off,” she shares. “I simply continued to lie there pretending to be asleep, hoping that he would get bored and go someplace else. He did not.”
Wagner says that she felt herself beginning to cry and knew she needed to “make a alternative.”
“I opened my eyes and pulled away from him as he kissed my neck,” she remembers. “I grabbed his invading hand, and I instructed him to cease. And he did. He checked out me for just a few seconds, quietly acquired up and left the room. All of this occurred over the interval of about 5 minutes. That’s such a small period of time, nevertheless it’s haunted me ever since.”
Wagner notes that she “wrestled” with the concept of utilizing Coughlin’s identify earlier than coming ahead together with her story.
“He was a outstanding determine skater who died by suicide in January, and so I totally perceive the problems with naming him,” she writes. “However a reputation can form a lot of how my story is perceived. With out it, I do know folks will query my credibility.”
“I don’t see myself as a sufferer, and I by no means need anybody else to consider me that means,” Wagner states. “After that terrible evening in 2008, I moved on with my life, however I used to be at all times confused about what to consider him. He by no means apologized, and I by no means requested for an apology. We each moved ahead, by no means acknowledging what he did to me.”
On Jan. 17, shortly earlier than his passing, U.S. Determine Skating officers introduced that Coughlin, 33, had been briefly suspended by the U.S. Heart for SafeSport. On the time, additional particulars on the rationale for the short-term suspension weren’t shared.
Totally free, confidential assist, name the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or go to rainn.org.