Olympian Andy Gabel is on the hot seat after being accused of sexually abusing female skater Bridie Farrell in the 1990s.
Farrell said she had sexual contact with Gabel repeatedly over several months in 1997 and 1998 while both were training in New York and Michigan. At the time, she was 15 and Gabel was 33.
Now it seems that Farrell wasn't the only one to be sexually assaulted as ESPN.com reports of a second accuser to come forward against Gabel.
Nikki Meyer, known by her maiden name of Nikki Ziegelmeyer when she won short-track relay medals for the U.S. at the Albertville and Lillehammer Games, delivered the most recent accusations against Gabel, a medalist himself who competed in four Olympics, was a former president of U.S. Speedskating and, until last week, held a prominent position at the International Skating Union.
"He wasn't a hero. He wasn't the god of speedskating," Meyer, now 37, told the AP in an hour-long telephone interview from her hometown in suburban St. Louis. "He's a child molester. He's a rapist. He's a sexual abuser. He's a pedophile. By no means should anybody think he is anything more than that."
Gabel, now 48, issued a statement to the AP acknowledging he made mistakes during his skating career, but strongly denied forcing himself on anyone.
"I want to emphasize there was no incident of any abuse ever," Gabel said. "I never forced myself on any individual, and any allegations of that nature are absolutely false. Any relationship I had was consensual."
