Canadian Ice Dancer Nikolaj Sørensen Under Investigation for Alleged Sexual Assault

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 5, 2024

FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

(Warning: The following contains graphic descriptions that may be disturbing.)

Canadian Olympic figure skater Nikolaj Sørensen is being investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting an American figure skating coach in April 2012, according to Christine Brennan of USA Today.

The woman, a former figure skater herself who was 22 at the time of the alleged attack, said Sørensen held her down on a bed after a party in Hartford, Connecticut, before raping her.

“He pinned me down with his left arm over my collarbone,” she told Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner and the U.S. Center for SafeSport. “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.”

“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,” she continued. “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.”

She said she didn’t come forward sooner to either police or sporting officials out of fear that she wouldn’t be believed or would be blamed. The statute of limitations for filing a criminal complaint in Connecticut has since expired.

Title IX attorney and former Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead, who is representing the woman, confirmed to Brennan that an investigation of the 34-year-old Sørensen is underway.

Sørensen competed at the 2022 Olympics with his ice dancing partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry.