体坛英语资讯：Paralyzed Chinese gymnast reports sexual harassment case to US police

BEIJING, May 6 -- Paralyzed former Chinese gymnast Sang Lan has reported to the New York police, accusing her former legal guardians' son of sexual harassment during her rehabilitation at their house 13 years ago, her lawyer confirmed here on Friday.

On April 28, Sang filed a 1.8 billion U.S. dollars lawsuit against the former AOL Time Warner Inc. media and entertainment company, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation and others, saying they broke promises to care for her afterwards after she suffered a bad injury at the 1998 Goodwill Games and was left paralyzed from the chest down since then.

Sang's lawyer Hai Ming told the Beijing News on Friday that the new accusation was not included in the previous lawsuit because they just found out recently.

"We verified the situation with Sang and got her confirmation. The adult man not just gave baths to Sang, then 17 and disabled. He even had other improper behaviors," Hai was quoted by the newspaper.

The new defendant was the son of Sang's legal guardians Xie Xiaohong and Liu Guosheng, listed as defendants in the previous lawsuit, who took care of Sang during her medical treatment and rehabilitation in the US after she broke her neck in a warm-up at the games.

Appointed by the Chinese Gymnastics Association as Sang's legal guardians in the U.S., the couple moved the vault specialist to their own house to help Sang recover for about 10 months.

According to a report entitled "It is the most miraculous fate that put Sang Lan and Xie Xiaohong together" published on Sohu.com in 2007, the couple also provided Sang with financial aid for her later rehabilitation back in China.

But Hai stated that the couple "have been in control of her medical treatments and connections with American doctors. The two people used Sang's name and image in their business without permission. And they also invaded Sang's privacy."

The lawsuit against the couple soon put Sang in a swirl of controversy in China. Some considered her as "ungrateful of their help" while others supported Sang's action to protect her rights.