After a 2½-year investigation, U.S. Olympic pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield received a lifelong ban on Wednesday from the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The ban was imposed due to various violations, including physical and emotional misconduct, retaliation, abuse of process, and failure to report a potential SafeSport violation.

Following the announcement of Sappenfield's permanent ineligibility on the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database, SafeSport CEO Ju’Riese Colon stated to TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports, "Culture change is happening. Actions that were once tolerated or ignored are no longer accepted, and accountability is taking root. That’s progress but creating long-term culture change requires steadfast commitment by everyone in the sport community to fostering safe environments for athletes to fulfill their potential. Those who cling to toxic tactics will be left behind and on the wrong side of history."

Sappenfield did not immediately respond to a text message from TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports following the announcement of her punishment. However, she retains the right to appeal the lifetime ban.



On September 3, 2021, SafeSport implemented interim measures against Sappenfield. These measures included a directive forbidding her from contacting a dozen skaters who were part of the investigation and stipulating that another adult must supervise her directly while coaching. The allegations against Sappenfield included verbal abuse, which reportedly prompted 2016 U.S. national pairs champion Tarah Kayne to self-harm by cutting her wrist with a razor blade.

Kayne shared with TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports in October 2021 several incidents she brought to the attention of a SafeSport investigator. One such incident involved Kayne's assertion that Sappenfield's continuous verbal abuse, replete with sexual remarks, drove her to self-harm in the summer of 2019, within her dormitory at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“She incessantly delved into discussions about sex, my dating life, and intimate matters,” recounted Kayne, who has since retired from skating and transitioned into coaching in Canada. “It was entirely inappropriate, but unfortunately characteristic of Dalilah's behavior. She weaponized gossip from fellow skaters in the rink against me.


In another occurrence, three individuals with direct insight into the matter, who requested anonymity due to its sensitivity, disclosed that Mitch Moyer, then-U.S. Figure Skating’s senior director of athlete high performance, orchestrated an operation in the autumn of 2020 to relocate a 16-year-old female Russian pairs skater from Sappenfield’s residence.

Housing a minor athlete goes against the guidelines outlined in the USFS SafeSport program handbook. Concurrently, two male skaters over 18 years old were residing in Sappenfield’s Colorado Springs residence alongside the Russian skater.

According to two individuals familiar with the matter, Moyer alerted SafeSport about Sappenfield’s living arrangements.

When queried by TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports in November 2021 regarding the USFS action, Sappenfield responded via text, stating, “Thank you for reaching out to me. At this time I have no comment.”

Sappenfield is recognized within skating communities as the coach and close associate of John Coughlin, the two-time national pairs champion who tragically took his own life at 33 on Jan. 18, 2019. His death occurred just one day after he was provisionally suspended by SafeSport following three allegations of sexual abuse.


Following Coughlin's passing, Sappenfield ardently defended him via social media. According to reports from TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports, Coughlin faced three accusations of sexual assault, two of which involved minors.

Ashley Wagner, three-time U.S. women’s champion and 2014 Olympic team bronze medalist, disclosed to TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports on August 1, 2019, that Coughlin sexually assaulted her in June 2008, when she was 17. Wagner's case is distinct from the aforementioned three reports.

Sappenfield has been a prominent figure in U.S. pairs skating for close to two decades. Recognized for her coaching prowess, she received the 2008 Professional Skaters Association/U.S. Figure Skating Coach of the Year award. Notably, she coached Alexa and Chris Knierim, three-time national champions, during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where they secured a team bronze medal and placed 15th in the pairs competition.

Despite the interim SafeSport precautions, Sappenfield was present at the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Columbus in January. Positioned by the rinkside, she coached a pairs team, evidently unhindered in her role at the pinnacle of the sport.

“I'm here for my skaters,” she conveyed to TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports, as she navigated away from the ice and traversed the media interview zone.


When questioned directly about the ongoing SafeSport measures, she responded, “I think that’s very public.”

Despite the ongoing investigation, Sappenfield was permitted to attend the national championships and coach a pairs team, as SafeSport was still reviewing her case more than two years after its initiation.

The process was further prolonged due to Sappenfield's appeal of the temporary measures. On January 5, 2023, an arbitration hearing occurred, during which the arbitrator upheld the temporary measures imposed on Sappenfield.

Even while coaching at the recent national championships, Sappenfield remained under temporary measures, as confirmed by U.S. Figure Skating.

“Dalilah Sappenfield is coaching at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships under restrictions placed on her by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which has jurisdiction of her case,” USFS stated in a response to TODAY US NEWS 24 Sports. “In cooperation with the Center, U.S. Figure Skating continues to monitor Sappenfield.”