Aja Evans, an Olympic bobsled medalist from Chicago, filed a lawsuit against the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, alleging nearly a decade of "sexual abuse and harassment" by the team's osteopathic medical provider while Evans trained and competed for the USA Bobsled team, her attorneys said Thursday.
The complaint, filed in New York, alleges the assaults began in 2012 "under the guise of athletic medical care" by medical provider Dr. John Wilhelm, attorneys from The Simpson Tuegel Law Firm said in a statement. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Wilhelm and Pro Chiropractic are named in the lawsuit, which stated the abuse happened mostly at the USA Bobsled headquarters in Lake Placid, NY, according to the attorneys.
"As alleged in the complaint, beginning in 2012 under the guise of athletic medical care, Wilhelm would repeatedly touch Ms. Evans’ genitals and inner groin area, frequently treating her abductors, despite no issues specific to that area," the attorneys said in a statement. A person's abductor and adductor muscles are located in the hips and thighs.
The complaint alleges several of Evans' teammates also experienced "Wilhelm’s tendency to 'go for the adductor,' irrespective of their wishes or consent" and claimed Wilhelm photographed Evans and her teammates while they were "in states of undress," attorneys said.
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A statement from Evans' attorneys said the bobsledder and her teammates formally reported "Wilhelm’s repeated nonconsensual photography in 2017 to USA Bobsled, but the USOPC and USA Bobsled dismissed the complaint and failed to initiate any sort of investigation into Wilhelm’s predatory conduct."
Wilhelm denied the claims in a statement from an attorney representing him.
"Dr. Wilhelm wholeheartedly denies the detestable claims against him," Ryan J. Stevens said in the statement. "He has not yet had the opportunity to defend any of these baseless claims in court or through the litigation process, but he looks forward to doing so."
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Evans said in a statement "the repeated molestation and sexual assault" caused chronic anxiety.
“The repeated molestation and sexual assault I suffered at the hands of John Wilhelm left me physically and emotionally damaged, to the point where I experience chronic anxiety and fell out of love with the sport of bobsledding,” said Evans in a statement. “This lawsuit is not only to spare other athletes from the predatory behavior of Mr. Wilhelm, who continues to practice sports medicine, but also to hold USA Bobsled and the USOPC accountable for their role in enabling my abuser and neglecting the wellbeing of their athletes.”
Evans, who graduated from the University of Illinois, won a bronze medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and placed fifth in 2018 in PyeongChang. She was selected as an alternate on the team for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In 2022, she was banned for two years for not submitting a drug-testing sample during an out-of-competition test in March of that year.
The lawsuit alleges "USA Bobsled and the USOPC ultimately failed to protect their athletes," according to the statement. "Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that USA Bobsled fostered and maintained both a culture of silence around athlete discomfort and the systemic inequities suffered by athletes of color."
“My client suffered abhorrent and persistent sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of Mr. Wilhelm, who was sheltered and enabled by USA Bobsledding and the USOPC’s culture of silence,” said Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney representing Evans. “Unfortunately, her experience is all too common and is in many ways similar to the widespread sexual abuse USA gymnasts faced by Larry Nassar. While nothing can erase the trauma Aja suffered, we are committed to bringing both Mr. Wilhelm and the national organizations which enabled his predation to justice.”
The International Federation of Sports Chiropractic released the following statement:
"It has recently and urgently come to our attention that one of our members has been accused of professional misconduct regarding the treatment and management of an elite bobsled athlete.
"FICS has a defined, accredited and certified educational and accreditation policy for its members, which dictates both academic and professional guidelines in terms of conduct and expectations of our members. FICS follows and employs the SAFESPORT Code, fully supporting all legal and due process.
"FICS has already launched a thorough internal investigation in light of the accusations raised. We take these accusations very seriously and can not express enough the seriousness of these accusations and the importance of ensuring that FICS members are compliant and conversant with the FICS guidelines on professional and educational standards and expectations."
