The Cost of One Olympic Sexual Abuse Survivor’s Fight for Justice

Mandy Meloon—widely recognized as one of the best taekwondo athletes in the U.S.—was told she could compete in the Beijing Olympics only if she took back her allegation that her coach and his brother were sexually and financially abusing her.

On August 8, the last day of the Tokyo Olympics, Meloon and the other taekwondo survivors will fly to Colorado where a class-action lawsuit alleging “intentional, reckless and negligent acts” committed by
the United States Olympic Committee, including USA Taekwondo, “toward their own athletes” might get resolved.