A second skater accuses Andy Gabel of rape. She is the second former speedskater to allege that the one-time leader of the US short track program raped her.

Nikki Meyer(formerly Ziegelmeyer) came forward with the most recent accusations against Gabel, who held a prominent position at the International Skating Union until last week.

Meyer told the Associated Press on Friday that he raped her and she was manipulated into a three-year relationship with the coach. The abuse allegedly came to an end at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.

She was the winner of short track relay medals for the U.S. at the Albertville and Lillehammer Games.

Gabel is also a medalist who competed in four Olympics and was a former president of U.S. Speedskating.

Meyer, now 37, gave an interview to the AP via telephone from her Missouri hometown.

She said the rape happened in 1991 when she was 15 and Gabel was 33, shortly after she arrived at the national training center in Marquette, Michigan.

After the encounter the skater reports Gabel said to her, "This never happened. If you try to tell anybody, they will not believe you."

The skater said after that she tried to stay away from Gabel, but he kept pursuing her.

"He wasn't a hero. He wasn't the god of speedskating," said Meyer in her interview on Friday. "He's a child molester. He's a rapist. He's a sexual abuser. He's a pedophile. By no means should anybody think he is anything more than that."

Gabel, 48, gave a statement to the AP acknowledging that during his skating career he made a lot of mistakes, but strongly denied the rape charges.

"I want to emphasize there was no incident of any abuse ever," Gabel said. "I never forced myself on any individual, and any allegations of that nature are absolutely false. Any relationship I had was consensual."

His statement continued to say, "Looking back on it now, I understand that my conduct nearly 20 years ago and longer was still inappropriate. I've apologized publicly for that and I'm sorry for crossing that line. I understand that inappropriateness more than ever now."

Just last week another former speedskater, Bridie Farrell, said in an interview with Milwaukee public radio station WUWM that she had an inappropriate relationship with Gabel when she was 15 and he was 33.

Meyer said she came forward with her accusations after reading about Farrell and talking with other former skaters.

"It was almost like a carbon copy of a chapter in my life," said the skater. "How he pursued her, how he made her feel special, how he made her keep it a secret."

Meyer noted that she does not know if the statute of limitations is up, or if she even wants to pursue charges against Gabel, but would like to see him banned from U.S. Speedskating for life.