The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Southern California reversed an earlier dismissal of a law suit brought by taekwondo athletes Yasmin Brown, Kendra Gatt and Brianna Bordon against USA Taekwondo, and reminded National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of their responsibility to protect athletes.

In 2015, Gitelman was found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with Brown and a lewd or lascivious act involving Gatt and was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.

A sum of €60 million (£47.9 million/€54.4 million) was awarded to the three athletes in 2017.

The lawsuit had stated that Gitelman molested the women from 2007 until his arrest on sexual assault charges in August 2014.

In reversing the previous dismissal, the court ruled USA Taekwondo could be held liable for the harm caused by Gitelman, with whom the organisation was deemed to have a special relationship.

Justice Michelle Feuer stated that although USOPC had the ability to control USA Taekwondo, it did not have control over the conduct over coaches.

However, USA Taekwondo was held to account owing to the fact "Gitelman was required to register with USAT to coach taekwondo at USAT-sponsored competitions, athletes could only compete in competitions with registered coaches, USAT could implement policies and procedures to protect athletes from sexual abuse by their coaches, and USAT could bar Gitelman from coaching athletes at taekwondo competitions for his violations of USAT's policies and procedures."

After the hearing, Steve Estey from the Estey and Bomberger law firm said: "We believe that the ruling is sending a message that all National Governing Bodies must protect athletes from sexual abuse because a very real possibility exists that a coach could be a predator.

"USA Taekwondo and the USOPC have used an army of lawyers to engage in scorched earth litigation tactics using loopholes in the law to traumatise sexual abuse victims.

"The courts continue to side with victims and to hold organisations accountable for their failures to be proactive instead of reactive."

The court ruling could have a knock-on effect for other NGBs in the United States.

In September, USOPC said it was cooperating with Government inquiries into the country's sports organisations, including USA Taekwondo and USA Gymnastics.

The inquiry follows in the wake of the sexual abuse case against former national gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, 55, was given an effective life sentence by a Michigan court for sexually abusing dozens of young female gymnasts entrusted to his care.

He is also serving a 60-year sentence for a federal child pornography conviction.

In August, the Orange County Register newspaper reported USA Gymnastics was investigating coach Maggie Haney over allegations of emotional and verbal abuse of athletes.

Haney was accused of pressuring athletes to compete while injured, with the Olympic coach reported to have screamed, threatened, bullied and harassed American gymnasts.