As reported by Yonhap, according to a complaint submitted to police last month, the 22-year-old Shim accused Cho Jae-beom of raping and sexually molesting her multiple times, beginning in 2014 when she was a high school student.

"She has been repeatedly subjected to these crimes since she was a teenager and the depth of her traumatic wounds is beyond description," her lawyer Lim Sang-hyuk told SBS News.

Shim maintains that Cho's alleged sexual abuse continued until around two months before the opening of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, held last February.

Lim said she was unable to tell the truth because of Cho's threat that the revelation could ruin her career in sport.

Cho's lawyers told SBS News that he denied the allegations of sexual assault.

Last month, Shim said she wanted "the truth to come out" during a tearful testimony against Cho, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison in September for assaulting four skaters, including Shim, over a seven-year period from 2011 to 2018.

According to Yonhap, the young skater, who helped hosts South Korea defend their women's 3,000 metres relay title at Pyeongchang 2018, fought back tears as she described Cho's alleged beatings and the effect they had on her.

The case caused huge controversy in South Korea in the build up to Pyeongchang 2018, with Cho handed a lifetime ban by the Korea Skating Union just weeks before the Opening Ceremony.

He is appealing his prison sentence.

The issue first arose when Shim reportedly boycotted a training programme in protest, although she did return two days later.

Shim had originally only given statements through her lawyer as she did not want to face Cho in court, but then said she felt she needed to tell her side of the story in person.

During her testimony she alleged Cho had been abusing her, both physically and verbally, since she was in elementary school.

The attacks, she said, led to injuries including broken bones and concussion.