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Former track coach who trained at Drake Stadium accused of sexual abuse by 41 men

The most recent accuser of Mainwaring was training with him at Drake Stadium in June 2016 when another accuser confronted Mainwaring, Outside the Lines reported. After he confronted Mainwaring, the accuser and others wrote letters to the UCLA athletic department to get Mainwaring banned from UCLA’s campus, which he was in August 2016, according to Outside the Lines. (Daily Bruin file photo)

By Jason Maikis

Aug. 1, 2019 6:00 p.m.

A former track coach who allegedly trained multiple UCLA students at Drake Stadium was accused of sexually abusing 41 men since 1975, ESPN reported Thursday.

ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported that Conrad Mainwaring, a former Olympian and track and field trainer, has been accused of inappropriate sexual contact with many of his trainees. Mainwaring was arrested June 19 on one count of sexual battery by fraud, but plead not guilty and was released on bail. If found guilty, Mainwaring could serve up to four years in prison.

Although Mainwaring wasn’t employed by UCLA, he began to train athletes at UCLA’s Drake Stadium beginning in the mid-1990s. Fourteen men, who trained at Drake Stadium, have come forward to Outside the Lines with stories of abuse, with the most recent coming in 2016.

Former UCLA track and field runner David O’Boyle, an accuser of Mainwaring, and several others wrote complaints to UCLA’s athletic department that resulted in Mainwaring getting banned in 2016 from campus and from working with UCLA student-athletes, according to Outside the Lines’ investigation.

This came after O’Boyle confronted Mainwaring while he was training an anonymous UCLA student on a morning of June 2016. After the confrontation, O’Boyle brought the allegations to the UCPD, which allegedly spoke with Mainwaring but did not file charges, according to Outside the Lines.

Despite the accusations, UCLA’s athletic department said it had no knowledge of any UCLA student-athletes who trained with Mainwaring during their time on the track and field team.

The alleged abuse started in the 1970s in England – where Mainwaring was raised – and continued in the United States, Outside the Lines reported. Mainwaring was a counselor at Camp Greylock, a boys’ sports camp in Massachusetts, where he allegedly abused seven men.

When Mainwaring was a graduate student at Syracuse University in the 1980s, he trained their track athletes as well as some athletes from the local Nottingham High School. Thursday’s Outside the Lines report said seven former athletes from Syracuse and seven from Nottingham have come forward with stories of abuse.

Mainwaring was hired by the California Institute of Technology in 1987 but was fired less than a year later after “an internal investigation related to a student complaint,” according to a spokesperson from the school who shared a statement with Outside the Lines. Mainwaring allegedly abused three men while employed there, according to Outside the Lines.

Mainwaring was originally a track and field athlete for Antigua, competing in the 400- and 110-meter hurdles at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics.

He most notably coached Felix Sanchez, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles. Sanchez has not come forward with any allegations.

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Jason Maikis | Alumnus
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
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