Former Gymnast Lindsey Lemke Says John Geddert Belongs in Prison

Former gymnast Lindsey Lemke held a press conference Wednesday where she asserted Twistars USA Gymnastics Club owner and suspended USA Gymnastics coach John Geddert belongs in prison for the way he abused athletes.

"He was abusive," Lemke said, according to ESPN.com's Dan Murphy. "He deserves to be in jail with Larry [Nassar]."

Geddert was suspended by USA Gymnastics on Monday after the organization took action "to ensure the safety and well-being of the gymnastics community," according to CNN's Laura Ly.

The 60-year-old, who previously served as the head coach of the 2011 U.S. World Team and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, has been accused of physically abusing gymnasts who trained at Twistars—which was "one of the locations where Larry Nassar, a disgraced former gymnastics physician, has admitted to sexually abusing young female athletes," per Ly.

According to Murphy, former Twistars gymnast Makayla Thrush said Geddert "ended her career when he pushed her against a training apparatus, tearing muscles in her stomach."

Thrush also said Geddert told her to kill herself multiple times.

"After you ended my career, I tried," she said, per Murphy.

Following his suspension, Geddert emailed "Twistar families," informing them he plans to retire, according to the Lansing State Journal's Eric Lacy.

On Wednesday, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison on top of the 60-year federal sentence he received in December stemming from child pornography charges.