Dalilah Sappenfield (left) with Britney Simpson and Nathan Miller in 2010

Dalilah Sappenfield is an American figure skating coach and choreographer who specializes in pair skating. She has worked as a coach since 1993 and is the 2008 USFSA/PSA Coach of the Year,[1] an award she won after her pair teams won the gold medals at the novice, junior, and senior levels at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Her pair Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim qualified to the 2018 Winter Olympics.[2] She is the adoptive mother of Laureano Ibarra, and he and his first partner were her first pair team.

Sappenfield coaches in Monument, Colorado at the Monument Ice Rinks. She has coached Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim to two U.S. National titles (2015, 2018), Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker to two U.S. National titles (2008, 2009), Caydee Denney & John Coughlin to the 2012 National title and Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin to the 2011 National title.[3][4][5][6] She also coached McLaughlin & Brubaker to the 2007 World Junior title and the 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final title. Her pair teams have won several medals on the ISU Grand Prix and the ISU Junior Grand Prix. Additional skaters she has coached include Jessica Rose Paetsch & Jon Nuss,[7] Meeran Trombley & Laureano Ibarra,[8] Brittany Vise & Nicholas Kole,[9] Igor Macypura,[10] and Austin Kanallakan.[11]

U.S. National Champions coached by Sappenfield include:

Allegations of abuse and suspension by SafeSport

On October 8, 2021, USA Today published an exposé by Christine Brennan in which former pairs skater Tarah Kayne detailed alleged emotional and psychological abuse she suffered while being coached by Sappenfield. Kayne ultimately left Sappenfield with her skating partner, Danny O'Shea, in September 2020, before Kayne retired in December that same year. Kayne stated that Sappenfield's abuse prompted her to engage in self-harm behaviors, and that she'd been afraid to seek mental health treatment out of concern that Sappenfield would find out. She said to Brennan, "these awful experiences forced me out of the sport I love. Dalilah said multiple times that she wanted to end my career, and she succeeded." O'Shea expressed his support for Kayne on social media. Kayne was one of several skaters to file complaints against Sappenfield with the United States Center for SafeSport, leading to her suspension pending further investigation.[12]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dalilah Sappenfield.
  1. ↑ Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating
  2. ↑ "U.S. Figure Skating Announces Pairs Nomination for 2018 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team". U.S. Figure Skating. January 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ SCIMECA KNIERIM & KNIERIM
  4. ↑ McLAUGHLIN & BRUBAKER Archived April 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Yankowskas & Coughlin
  6. ↑ Penny, Brandon (June 15, 2011). "Powerful Denney & Coughlin taking risks". TeamUSA.org. Archived from the original on June 19, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "PAETSCH & NUSS". Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  8. ↑ TROMBLEY & IBARRA Archived June 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Vise & Kole". Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  10. ↑ MACYPURA Archived May 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ KANALLAKAN Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Brennan, Christine. "Figure skater Tarah Kayne details abuse allegations against sanctioned Olympic coach". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
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