US Figure Skating Coach Dalilah Sappenfield Banned for Life; Accused of Misconduct

Doric SamMay 29, 2024

Zhe Ji/International Skating Union via Getty Images

Dalilah Sappenfield, the U.S. Olympic pairs figure skating coach, received a lifetime ban from the U.S. Center for SafeSport on Wednesday for violations that include emotional and physical misconduct, per Christine Brennan of USA Today.

Christine Brennan @cbrennansportsBreaking: U.S. Olympic pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield was banned for life Wednesday afternoon by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for violations including emotional and physical misconduct. pic.twitter.com/yftcNKAjOk

In October 2021, Brennan published a detailed report on abuse allegations against Sappenfield from 2016 U.S. pairs champion Tarah Kayne.

As part of the allegations she reported to a SafeSport investigator, Kayne detailed an instance “in which the coach’s constant verbal abuse, filled with sexual comments, led her to cut her left wrist with a razor blade in the summer of 2019 in her dorm room at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

“She was constantly talking about sex, about who I was dating, about my sex life,” Kayne said at the time. “It was completely inappropriate, but that’s what Dalilah does. She uses gossip from other skaters in the rink against you. She knew I was struggling with my mental health, but instead of helping me, she chose to make fun of me. She even went to other skaters and told them about it, calling me names and asking the guys why anyone would want to date me.”

Kayne was one of several skaters to file complaints against Sappenfield with SafeSport nearly three years ago. Sappenfield was suspended pending further investigation and barred from “having any contact with a dozen figure skaters and from coaching other athletes without another adult present to supervise.”

Sappenfield had worked as a coach since 1993 and was the recipient of the 2008 Professional Skaters Association/U.S. Figure Skating Coach of the Year award. She coached three-time national champions Alexa and Chris Knierim to a qualifying spot in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.