Former Chinese gymnastics team members Qi Han and Chen Yiwen retired in 1999, immigrated to North Carolina and founded the Chaillot Everest Gymnastics School in 2004.
Many Chinese parents send their children to this school to learn gymnastics.
The gymnastics couple have thousands of gymnastics students in more than a decade, and have produced a world champion, three members of the U.S. national team, and dozens of national gymnastics champions.
However, Han Qi has been controversial for accusing him of abusive and crazy training by athletes in recent years.
The United States Center for Safe Sport confirmed this week that it has officially launched an investigation into restraining Coach Han Qi.
In multiple allegations in recent years, Coach Han Qi has been accused of abusing girls as young as 9 years old, dividing them into "obese" groups and forcing them to do 10-minute handstands. He stated that "obese" gymnasts need to be assigned extra workouts while calling them stupid and not worth wasting his time.
In the past 7 years, Han Qi has become a frequent visitor to the complaint center. Among the complaints were physical, emotional and verbal insults against the gymnasts, who said they felt "brainwashed" and suicidal because of his tactics.
Now, he is finally facing an investigation by the Security Campaign Center set up by Congress because of a number of past complaints and disputes.
The New York Times previously pointed out that multiple of Han Qi's accusers include Olympians Ashton Locklear, Taylor Laymon and gymnast Allee George, and two accusers who requested anonymity.
This Friday, after learning of the launch of the investigation, Locklear shared the post on her Instagram Stories, writing: "In fact, he has been a known abuser since 2012... I am still learning to "get out of the pain". Leave a message and question why the authorities are only taking action now.
(Locklear hugs Han Qi after competing in the 2016 U.S. Olympic gymnast trials)
In another post, she appeared to retweet a private post from George, where she wrote:
"I'll never be good enough for him.
I trained with him for more than 30 hours a week and I won everything for 3 years in a row, but he still told me every day that I was so bad, I did very badly, I would never achieve anything.
He would occasionally be nice to me, and I think he was the most amazing person.
I always want to be the best athlete, I want to change my image in the eyes of the coach, I hope he doesn't yell at me or punish me.
I'll never forget the 10-minute handstand, which made my head feel like it was going to explode and if I couldn't hold on halfway through, I had to start over. ”
Locklear, now 25, wrote in the post. This is just one of many stories.
In a 2018 interview, Locklear said Coach Han would yell at her during workouts, kick her out of the gym, and say things like, 'Your expression tells me you don't want to stay here.'"
She claimed that she was forced to walk after him in the gym for hours, crying and begging him to take her back to training, when she was just a teenager.
At one point, she also said that Coach Han threw a mobile phone directly at her.
Other media reports also wrote that when Han Qi was on a high platform, he would push the girl off the high platform.
Of course, Han Qi denied these accusations many times.
Locklear said she reported details of former national team coordinator Martha Calori who Coach Han Qi often abused her.
Locklear said she had been afraid to resist the coach, and she felt "brainwashed" that the coach had the right to abuse and abuse his team members so much, and that all athletes had to do was fear and silence.
It wasn't until 2018, after the national scandal in which American gymnast doctor Larry Nassar was found to have abused hundreds of girls and women, that she bravely chose to speak out against Coach Han Qi's long-term "abuse" of her.
Locklear is a two-time national uneven bars champion who retired in 2019.
Another member of the team, George, who accused Han Qi, pointed out similar problems.
George previously claimed that the coach's behavior was so appalling that it eventually led her to give up gymnastics.
She said in 2018: "Han Qi will brainwash you into thinking that all the strange ways he disciplines you are normal, such as he will pull your shoulders beyond your limit point until you scream, but still won't stop." The players he coached turned into good gymnasts, but they were mentally devastated.
Locklear said she had submitted several reports against Han Qi to USA Gymnastics or SafeSport over the years, but waited until today.
Other coaches have reported Han, such as Monica Avery Avey, owner and coach of OSEGA Dream Academy outside Asheville, North Carolina, who also reported to USA Gymnastics that she saw Han kicking an athlete during a Texas competition in 2016.
She also spoke to The Times this week, saying: "The emotional damage these girls have to experience is so heartbreaking that Han Qi's coaching practice should have been stopped years ago." ”
A parent of a former student at Han Qi's gymnastics club told the media that many people were afraid to speak out about Han Qi's abuse of team members because they feared that it would prevent Han Qi from getting a college gymnastics scholarship.
"Many people think, go to college right away, endure it a little longer, and the nightmare will pass..."
Currently, the USA Gymnastics Association has referred the case to SafeSport for investigation. Jill Geer, a spokesman for USA Gymnastics, said: "It is in the best interest of everyone from the affected party to the sport itself to have the case handled appropriately and in a timely manner.
She added that the Safe Movement group is investigating the case, not the USA Gymnastics Association.
In Chinese culture, strict teachers are made of high apprentices, and sticks are filial piety. I believe that Coach Han, who is a former member of the Chinese national team, has also come all the way.
Netizens are also controversial about his approach.
Some people think that how to achieve results if you engage in sports without hardship? If you can't endure hardship, don't learn sports.
Others believe that respect and strictness are not contradictory and that coaches should rethink their own approach to education.
I don't know what everyone thinks?