COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Three of the most decorated U.S. women wrestlers filed a grievance Wednesday with the sport's national governing body, claiming gender discrimination and abusive behavior by national team coaches that led to a mass exodus from the Olympic Training Center.

Olympic medalists Sara McMann, Patricia Miranda and Randi Miller, supported by seven other former OTC wrestlers in a 24-page complaint, allege Colorado Springs-based USA Wrestling violated the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by not providing "equitable support and encouragement for participation by women."

Fourteen women's wrestlers with a combined 23 Olympic and world medals have left the OTC the past three years, frustrated by an inflexible training schedule; harsh disciplinary actions; meager financial incentives compared to men's wrestlers; mediocre coaches; and "inappropriate, substandard coaching behavior" by national team staff, according to the grievance.

In her letter, Miller, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, wrote that assistant national team coach Vladislav Izboinikov ignored requests to practice outside scheduled training, left her stranded on a Canadian trip and "antagonized me daily in the (wrestling) room. ... Often, he would also publicly insult me and my work ethic."

Two-time world bronze medalist Katie Downing Cygan wrote that Izboinikov "acted like the biggest fan of an athlete one day, only to ignore, demean or disrespect them the next day. On top of that, he favored a small group of my teammates and mistreated the rest. ... It came to be understood by all involved that there were 'Izzy's girls' and everyone else."

A 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, Miranda wrote that national team coach Terry Steiner permitted behavior by Izboinikov that "continues to be tolerated and ignored. ... Those of us wanting to give coach Steiner every chance to correct the terrible situation have resigned ourselves to believing that his authority means nothing in practice."

The grievance, none of which alleges sexual misconduct, calls for USA Wrestling to establish an internal oversight committee, conduct a review of the national team staff, compensate women's wrestlers for money lost due to "unjust sanctions" and issue a public apology to the women's wrestling community.

Izboinikov and Steiner declined comment. USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender said the grievance will be handed to the organization's president, Jim Ravannack, for review, "and hopefully it gets resolved quickly. ... Any time an athlete has a concern, we want to address it, and we have processes in place for doing that."

Former USA Wrestling president Art Martori said, "No one would be saying anything if (Izboinikov) wasn't such a good coach. They want Izzy to coach them, and they get mad when Izzy isn't coaching them."

Bender maintains women's wrestlers aren't undercompensated, pointing to a budget that calls for $38,500 in direct athlete support for each of the four women's Olympic weight classes and $18,600 for each of the 14 divisions in men's freestyle and Greco-Roman. USA Wrestling also contends that nine-time world medalist Kristie Marano left for family reasons. Marano has not returned calls on the matter.

"Women's wrestling is a discipline that we want to see flourish, and we want it to grow," Bender said. "The record shows that USA Wrestling has made and will continue to make a strong financial commitment to the women's program."

OTC WRESTLERS SKIPPING TOWN

During the past three years, 14 women's wrestlers have left the Olympic Training Center, citing a hostile atmosphere they claim violates the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, according to the grievance. A look at the departures:

Clarissa Chun, 2008 world champion

Katie Downing, Two-time world bronze medalist

Amantha Hordagoda, 2009 U.S. Nationals sixth-place finisher

Sharon Jacobson, 2006 national champion

Mary Kelly, 2005 World University Games bronze medalist

Kristie Marano, Two-time world champion

Sara McMann, 2004 Olympic silver medalist

Randi Miller, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist

Patricia Miranda, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist

Vanessa Oswalt, 2009 national runner-up

Cherae Pascua, 2008 University national champion

Chelynne Pringle, 2003 cadet national champion

Sally Roberts, Two-time world bronze medalist

Jenny Wong, 2003 world bronze medalist

THEY SAID IT . . .

In letters in a grievance filed Wednesday with USA Wrestling, 10 former Olympic Training Center residents and a former U.S. women's world team coach allege inappropriate behavior by national team coach Terry Steiner and assistant national team coach Vladislav Izboinikov. A look at their some of their claims:

Katie Downing, two-time world bronze medalist

"Coach Steiner failed over and over again to enforce his own rules and guidelines. He allowed simple disciplinary issues to grow into problems for the program and to invade practice times. Some of my teammates routinely came to practice late, got into trouble partying out on the town, brought parties to their dorm rooms, abused illegal substances, and made poor personal and social decisions. Rather than deal one on one with each problem-maker on their time, coach Steiner allowed them to disrupt the program more than once and insisted on constantly lecturing those of us who prioritized our lifestyle around our training and performance needs. At the same time, coach Izzy harshly enforced some rules for some of my teammates, while ignoring offenses by others. After a while, no one knew exactly what was expected of them, what to expect as a consequence or whose authority to respect."

Sara McMann, 2004 Olympic silver medalist

"I have experienced and witnessed Coach Izzy ignore, manipulate and lie to many athletes. I have also experienced how this treatment can affect an athlete's performance and mental preparation. It is very sad when an athlete experiences more stress when dealing with the coaching staff than they do when facing their competition. It has robbed me of my desire to compete under this system. I am forced to pursue other avenues of competition that keep me from being under the control of this system."

Randi Miller, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist

"I'm outraged that coach Izboinikov continues to have a position of influence and power over young women. In the end, this man cost me most of my career. I was not ready to be done with wrestling when I was forced out of the competitive side of this sport. At 25, walking away from wrestling was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted a gold medal, not bronze. After Beijing, I set my sights on chasing this dream in London. I wanted world championships along the way. Something kept getting in the way, though. The unacceptable part is that the same obstacle I have now is the same that I faced all along. One man, one coach wants me out of the way. If I am going to resist him, it means fighting all my competitors, all the other coaches and bad referees, and even those on my team that want me to fail. Make no mistake, coach Izboinikov decided very early that he wanted me to fail."

Patricia Miranda, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist

"Instead of training to win gold medals for our sport and our country, the women's team is plagued with coaches who are more concerned with controlling their athletes in order to mask the dysfunctional power play that is occurring amongst the leadership. The injustice inflicted by USA Wrestling's national women's program on undeserving athletes from 2005 to the present has robbed me of my passion for my sport and for the greater Olympic movement. I used to be a part of something I believed in, part of something that we as athletes, as a program, and as a country were building. That belief has been severely jeopardized."

Levi Weikel-Magden, 2008 women's world team coach

"Athletes like Patricia, Sara and Randi have climbed as high as they can until finally there was nowhere else to climb. The national team program in the United States is the pinnacle. If USA Wrestling is allowed to continue on its current pace, then that pinnacle will continue to be held hostage, as it has been in so many other circumstances by a handful of men who seek to retain power over the uprising of powerful females. These males currently retain their power by denying the females under them the rights and privileges they have earned."