New allegations of physical and verbal abuse emerged Wednesday against a coach and an athlete in an ongoing triathlon scandal, with the latter maintaining that she had done nothing wrong.

During a parliamentary hearing, Rep. Lim O-kyeong of the ruling Democratic Party presented new pieces of evidence of abuse against Kim Gyu-bong, head coach of the semi-pro club at Gyeongju City Hall, and his athlete, surnamed Jang.

Kim, Jang, another triathlete, Kim Do-hwan, and former team therapist Ahn Joo-hyeon are all being accused of having abused the late Gyeongju athlete Choi Suk-hyeon. Choi took her own life in late June after her pleas for help went unanswered by regional and national sports authorities. She had left behind audio recordings of occasions when she was apparently struck and verbally abused by these four individuals, prompting legal and sports authorities to belatedly begin investigating the case.

The National Assembly's committee on sports convened the hearing, but only Kim Do-hwan attended the session. Coach Kim was arrested Tuesday.

At the hearing, Lim brought written testimonies that Choi submitted to Gyeongju officials during their preliminary probe in March. The lawmaker also gathered statements from other triathletes from Gyeongju who said they, too, had been abused.

Kim Do-hwan, who has admitted to his wrongdoing and apologized to Choi's family, said Wednesday he was also abused by his coach and he saw the instructor strike his teammates.

Coach Kim has pointed to Ahn as the only abuser and argued he had to restrain the therapist on occasions.

Also during Wednesday's hearing, Choi's former teammates testified that Jang had physically and verbally abused many athletes and that she even ordered one younger teammate to hit others with a piece of lumber.

That athlete attended the hearing and said, "If I hadn't followed her order, she would have bullied me and driven me insane, too. I am really ashamed that I trusted and followed someone like her."

He added that it was "ridiculous" that Jang is still denying all allegations against her despite mounting evidence.

Another athlete said Jang kept hitting younger athletes randomly.

"We had to apologize to her for no reason. She basically ran the whole team at Gyeongju and there wasn't anything we could do," the athlete said. "Those people hit us every day, so they may not remember much. But we've been traumatized for our whole lives."

The athlete added, "I still have nightmares with Jang in them. I hope she will offer a sincere apology and receive her due punishment."

In a written statement submitted to the hearing, Jang claimed that she was the biggest victim in this scandal and that Ahn was the only person at fault.

"Coach Kim once asked me why I had hit my teammates, and I kept telling him I didn't do anything wrong," Jang wrote. "I even told him that if I had struck other athletes, I'd just quit on the spot."

Jang added that she had been on good terms with Choi and that she had also been abused by Ahn.

With allegations and denials flying, members of the parliamentary sports committee also grilled the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) and the sports ministry over their inadequate handling of the preliminary investigation into Choi's claims.

About two months before her death, Choi filed a petition with the KSOC, seeking punishments for her alleged abusers, but the sports body took no action.

It was only after Choi's passing that sports officials began moving, and the Korea Triathlon Federation banned coach Kim and Jang for life and suspended Kim Do-hwan for 10 years. All three have appealed those penalties. (Yonhap)