Last November, Aly Raisman came out and spoke about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar, the pedophile who was the long-time doctor for the United States’ national gymnastic team and training center. Nassar was a tragically prolific abuser who victimized young girls for decades. Aly Raisman was one of the first high-profile victims to come out and use her name and her voice to not only tell her story, but to educate and inform other girls and women about abuse. Gabby Douglas – Aly’s teammate – at first made a sh-tty comment about Raisman, but then Gabby quickly apologized and a day later, Gabby came out as one of Nassar’s victims too. Now Simone Biles is saying that she too was abused by Nassar. From her social media:
“Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl. But lately…I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams. I am not afraid to tell my story anymore. I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar. Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper. There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I know now it is not my fault.”
While Simone admits that she initially questioned if she was “naive,” she has come to the realization that Larry’s behavior is and was “unacceptable.”
“I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG [USA Gymnastics], and others,” Simone continued. “It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart even more to think that as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I was abused.”
“After hearing the brave stories of my friends and other survivors, I know that this horrific experience does not define me. I am much more than this. I am unique, smart, talented, motivated and passionate. I have promised myself that my story will be much greater than this and I promise all of you that I will never give up. I will compete with all of my heart and soul every time I step into the gym. I love this sport too much and I have never been a quitter. I won’t let one man and the others that enabled him to steal my love and joy.”
Poor Simone. These poor young women, all of them. The fact that they were abused is a heart-wrenching tragedy in and of itself. But the fact that they were abused by someone they were told to trust, who was supposed to be looking after their bodies as elite athletes, someone who was clearly behaving in a creepy and disgusting way for years and years… it’s just so infuriating.
Aly tweeted her support:
I am so proud of you. You are incredible Simone. I stand with you. I am shaking reading your post. I know we will all get through this together. https://t.co/Ziec5Fkhwv
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) January 15, 2018
Here’s Simone’s full statement:
Feelings… 💭 #MeToo pic.twitter.com/ICiu0FCa0n
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 15, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m so sorry this predator was give free rein over your bodies for years. I hope he gets everything that’s coming to him.
I was happy Gabby had the courage to say she was abused by this POS as well. I was so disappointed when after someone else told their story, she replied woman should dress modestly and not get involved with the wrong crowd. Thought it was a Duggar for a minute. This is what fear does, it shames you and I hate that man for this. These are strong woman who lived with this for so long. Proud of you both, Simone and Gabby.
I’m glad this coach is an American, so that he can be hit with a heavy sentence. All those poor girls.
Yeah. Put him in the slammer for 6 months, what Brock Turner SHOULD have served instead of just 3, and he just raped one woman. Give them that good hard American justice. 🤜
My god, did USAG get their training on how to handle sexual abuse from Penn State?
The details about ALL the institutions and adults in charge around this man are appalling. Not just USAG but Michigan State and his private practice as well. So many people are at fault for doing nothing to help these girls.
this whole story is harrowing. how could this happen? the USAG should be sued by every victim as their lack of involvement was clearly criminally negligent. stories like this made me scared for my daughter and reminisce on my time in sports and am so thankful i was never preyed upon by a trusted coach or doctor. a girl in my grade was groomed and preyed on by a male coach at our school and they are now married and in an extremely controlling relationship. it was inappropriate for her as a 9th grader and he, a 34 year old man to develop such a close meaningful relationship on school grounds that turned into dating two days after we graduated. it was a strong, controlling emotional relationship (possibly physical) prior to her turning 18. the rest of the girls on our team have a weird survivor guilt b/c he tried to groom all of us and picked the girl who was most susceptible. there were a few who could have gone further with him. it is really sick to think about. he was promoted and is still employed by my old school. if you can’t trust children with medical professionals – who can you trust them with? it is seriously so scary.
There are multiple pending civil lawsuits right now from multiple victims, going back decades. Many of them also name USAG as well as Nassar, and some even name their own coaches.
I want to know how this predator was aided and abetted and by whom.
There are not enough circles of h*ll for Nassar.
SO MANY HEADS MUST ROLL.
Including the Karolyis.
Can’t trust anybody, sadly. All professions have creeps. I was sexually abused once by a male doctor. He was slick about it too. I didn’t realize that the way he touched me was WRONG until after I left. Because I trusted him. Because he was a doctor and I wrongly assumed he had my best interest in mind.
This. As a teenager my doctor decided he needed to take my pulse next to my lady parts.
The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on the Larry Nassar scandals, both the women’s gymnastics and how Michigan State handled the accusations from women student-athletes there being treated by him, could be both fascinating and heartbreaking, if one gets made.
Nassar’s primary employer, up until Fall 2016, was Michigan State University. There’s records of accusations against him from the late 1990s to the time he was fired that he abused female athletes he was treating for injuries. His number of alleged victims at MSU is more than Jerry Sandusky’s at Penn State.
Nassar is facing federal charges in Michigan for possessing child pornography images on his computer. Sexual abuse charges against him in Michigan were dismissed in late 2014 because of lack of evidence and some victims more than likely were too scared to come forward. He should be facing renewed criminal charges for sexual abuse in both Michigan and Texas (the primary USA Gymnastics training site).
I just read that 140 young women have come forward saying they were sexually abused by this man.If 140 have come forward I suspect hundreds more were abused but haven’t come forward yet.Because they are still processing what happened to them.It took me 20 years to finally reveal to my father that I was abused as a child.
Take with a grain of salt, but did anyone else read or hear that because of the accusations against Nassar, the insurance company for USAG refused to cover him, or created a clause to disown the specific set of rehabilitative work he was supposedly doing with these women, in case things ever came to light. Like I said, I don’t know if that is true or not that the insurance company for USAG felt there was enough smoke to do something.
As Kelly said, the accusations went back for decades.
I used to love gymnastics but felt sickened at the encouragement of starvation to stunt height, and other abusive methods used by coaches and accepted as part of the sport. I don’t think so fondly of Bela karolyi either.
I can’t believe how one person was allowed to cause this much damage to vulnerable young girls. What special skills as a doctor did he have that a million other doctors lack? Or was he black mailing others with similar crimes?
So sorry for all of the children abused by this monster.
I read things like this and other harrowing stories of abuse from the #metoo victims along with my own experiences as a child and can only come to one conclusion: men are the worst. Specifically men in positions of power, any position of power over a woman, are the worst and we must specifically tell our daughters this. Any man that has power over you has the ability to abuse you and for far too long, society has always turned a blind eye or aided and abetted these men. Well, no more.
Why did U.S Gymnastics cover for him? There are so many other doctors they could have hired.
Nassar was a very good physician, except for the entire molestation of children thing. He was considered the very best and many athletes and dancers have credited their recovery to him, prior to this coming out. It seems that no one knew what was happening. He was a VERY skilled manipulator and everyone in the sport (except the athletes) thought he was a nice guy, a family man, an excellent physician who truly helped their athletes. Only after the first accusations came out did gymnasts come forward, one by one, and mention little things he did to groom them and ways he made them uncomfortable without being uncomfortable enough to say anything. He did it right under people’s noses for decades an everyone trusted him. Even when the allegations first began, his facebook was absolutely flooded with messages from coaches, gymnasts and parents who said they had faith in his innocence. Everyone was completely snowed.
As for why USAG continue to cover for him now, they are not. They have totally thrown Nassar under the bus and are putting all the blame onto him. And while he is the only one responsible for his own choices, USAG doesn’t want to be put on blast for their role in allowing an abuser to thrive in the culture of the Ranch… which IMO they absolutely did. So at this point, for them, I think it is just about saving face. They have addressed the issue an a completely inadequate way and it’s appalling.
The strength of these young women, to perform at that high a level all the while being abused…I don’t know how they did it. Every one of them who speaks out gives strength to another.
My heart breaks for Simone and all of the victims. I believe his sentencing hearing begins today, and victims are speaking, as well as statements from others are being read. It takes great courage to stand in the courtroom and speak, and I hope this monster is never free to hurt anyone ever again.
As a long time gymnastics fan, I am disgusted, and so are other gymnastics fans all over the world. I’ve decided to boycott everything USAG until they FIRE their board and move the training facility to a new place, such as the USOTC in Denver. It’s unconscionable they still require the national team members to return to the place where they were repeatedly sexually assaulted. I want to support the athletes who have done nothing to deserve a boycott, but they deserve a better organization. I am sorry that I ever supported an organization which allowed the exploitation of children to occur.
The biggest influencer of the national team, Marta Karolyi, is now retired, but the screwed up leadership which allowed this to happen remains. It seems they have not adequately addressed the issues of control and fear of speaking up which created a perfect environment for a monster to thrive (the abused gymnasts have frequently stated they were told Nassar would help them, and they felt powerless to speak up against the discomfort they felt when they visited the ranch each month – there was very much an attitude they had to suck it up and push through injuries and other problems). IMO USAG has embarrassed themselves at every opportunity in their press releases and have basically band-aided the entire thing in an effort to save face. They fired the doctor – but allegedly didn’t tell the parents why and allowed him to “retire” and continue working in other capacities. The USOC forced the CEO, Steve Penny, to resign – with a half million dollar pension. (Maggie Nichols, the gymnast whose coach filed the first complaint with USAG, and her mother said Penny actually called them and misled them into believing an FBI report was filed when it was not.) They have adopted Safe Sport, which I hope will help, but they continue to have all the same people in charge except Marta Karolyi and Steve Penny, the same people who contributed to the culture of silence which allowed this to happen. Until they fix these gigantic problems, I am done with this sport – NCAA gymnastics only for me (the gymnasts are usually trained in the USAG system but they are separate entities)- and I hope the USOC decertifies them.
Aly Raisman is also leading the hunt against USAG and has put them on blast in her book, and on Twitter.
I saw this article about Mary Lou Retton:
http://www.wogymnast.com/2017/10/confirmed-us-olympic-champion-mary-lou_15.html
Wow – that is messed up.
He will be killed in prison if they don’t keep him in solitary. Eventually. Someone already a lifer with nothing to lose by shanking a soft white pedophile.
I’ve been following gymnastics since the Mary Lou Retton era and the environment was ripe for this behavior. Gymnastics is filled with people who are determined to snuff out any whiff of a scandal. They believe that discussing serious issues is an attack on the sport. I remember when USA Today printed an article on the way USGA failed to follow up on sex abuse claims, the reaction was to criticize USA Today because they printed it the day before the Olympics and the community was more concerned about how it would affect enrollment rather than the fact that this was going on. And never mind that this article eventually played a part in getting other Nassar victims to come forward.