Olympic skater accused of sexual assault drops out of Canadian nationals

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 ice dancer Nikolaj Sørensen, under investigation for the alleged sexual assault of an American figure skating coach and former skater, has withdrawn from this week’s Canadian national championships, where he and his partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry, were the defending champions. 

“Laurence and I have made the difficult decision not to compete in the National Championships in Calgary this week,” Sørensen wrote on Instagram Tuesday afternoon. “While we do not wish to withdraw, we feel that our participation would be distracting, and that sportsmanship must continue to be the focus of the event. I will continue to fully cooperate with OSIC’s investigation. Given OSIC’s Confidentiality Policy, I am unable to comment further.”

Last week, USA TODAY Sports broke the news of the investigation of Sørensen by Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner for the alleged sexual assault that took place near Hartford, Connecticut, on April 21, 2012, according to documents and emails obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

The documents said the woman, then 22, said Sørensen, then 23, held her down against her will on a bed after a party at a condominium. 

“He pinned me down with his left arm over my collarbone,” the woman said in a report made to Canada’s OSIC and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports. “He pushed down hard on my collarbone, making me gasp for air the moment he inserted his penis into my vagina and covered his right hand over my mouth.”

The report continues: “All sound at that point became virtually inaudible and it felt like I would suffocate under the pressure of his arm on my collarbone and chest. I pushed my arms against his hips to try to get his penis out of me and I was struggling to breathe. At this point, I feared for my life and let my body go limp as I lay there and he raped me.”

The woman is not being 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 non-profit legal advocacy organization for girls and women in sports, told USA TODAY Sports that she is representing the victim of the alleged sexual abuse. Hogshead confirmed that an investigation of Sørensen is taking place but said she could not comment further due to a confidentiality agreement mandated by the OSIC. 

A day after the story was published, Hogshead called on Skate Canada, the sport’s national governing body, to suspend Sørensen.

“As the survivor’s lawyer, now that these violent and traumatic events have been published in USA TODAY, I’m calling on Skate Canada to suspend Nikolaj Sørensen prior to next week’s Canadian national figure skating championships,” she said. “If he competes, Skate Canada is sending a demoralizing message for survivors of sexual assault. For sport to effectively address athlete abuse, enforcement cannot wait.”

Multiple attempts to reach Sørensen last week via email, social media messages, his coach and the agency that represents him went unanswered. 

In his Instagram post, Sørensen said: “I believe that every person should feel safe and protected on and off the ice. A positive and supportive environment in sport is vital for all of us. I am aware of the allegations made against me. These allegations are false, and I intend to strongly defend myself and my reputation.” 

Sørensen, now 34, competed for his native Denmark earlier in his career, 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 Fournier Beaudry. They finished fifth at the 2023 Grand Prix Final in Beijing in early December. 

According to the report, the woman said she remained silent for years and never reached out to the police or sports officials because she feared that 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 that included an interview with Sørensen in which he commented about the importance of keeping women safe in ice dancing. 

“I couldn’t believe the words coming out of the rapist’s mouth,” the report quotes the woman as saying. “It hit me at that moment that mothers would likely be sending their daughters to train with him (as a coach) at some point after he retired from competitive skating, and I could not live with the guilt of knowing I never told any authority figures.”

According to the report, the woman filed her report with the OSIC that same day.