The lawsuits allege the plaintiffs were 11- and 12-year-old trainees at Chow's, who dreamed of one day competing in the Olympics when they began training under Gardner in 2018. They say they were subjected to "physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, harassment and molestation" until they quit the gym years later.

The plaintiffs include Iowa State gymnast Finley Weldon, who reported claims of abuse by Gardner to police and later went public in an AP interview.

The other is 19-year-old University of Iowa student Hailey Gear, who also wants to go public with her allegations, according to her attorney, Elizabeth Pudenz. They seek unspecified damages for their injuries and treatment expenses.

Several other former gymnasts have reported abuse, and more lawsuits are expected.

The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly.

In addition to USA Gymnastics and SafeSport, the defendants named in the lawsuit are Qiao, the former Chinese gymnast who opened Chow's in 1998 and coached Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas; Qiao's wife, Liwen Zhuang, a coach who helps run the gym; and their family corporations that own the business and the property on which it sits.

The lawsuits allege all the defendants were negligent in how they responded to reports of Gardner's misconduct.

The lawsuits allege Qiao and Zhuang failed to conduct an adequate background check before hiring Gardner, and continued to employ him even after receiving complaints that he inappropriately touched girls while spotting them during exercises.

Qiao and Zhuang didn't return a message left at Chow's.

The gym has said that Gardner passed a standard background check, and it fired Gardner after he was suspended by SafeSport in July 2022, even though "there had been no finding of misconduct at that time".

Agencies via Xinhua