USA Gymnastics Scandal

Each year, there are almost 500,000 reported sexual assaults in America for ages twelve and up. In the early months of 2018, Larry Nassar, an osteopathic physician for USA gymnastics, was found guilty of sexually abusing minors. The first time Nassar was accused of sexual assault was in 2000 by Rachael Denhollander, an athlete whom he would “help” with injuries. She claimed that the abuse started in 1994, six years before coming out about the situation.

Nassar used his higher power to take advantage of these young girls. It is mortifying that parents would sometimes even watch Larry Nassar groom these young women but would not do anything for their daughters in support of them. Coaches and parents were aware of Nassar's actions but ignored them. USA gymnastics had known of the allegations weeks before they did anything about it. Over 300 people have accused Larry Nassar of sexual abuse. He would tell his athletes that he was the only person who helped them recover from their injuries. These adolescent athletes saw him as someone who knew what he was doing and wouldn't take advantage of them. This could not be further from the truth.

Four members of the 2012 Women’s Olympic Gymnastics team accused Nassar of abuse as well. This included Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, and McKayla Maroney. Jordan Weiber came forward about Nassar’s horrible crimes for the first time at his sentencing. The gymnasts on the Olympic team were told to be appreciative of Nassar’s help and care for them. Although they were grateful for him, they were also disgusted by him and his actions.

Simone Biles, one of the most decorated Olympic gymnasts, has also claimed that Nassar had abused her as well. Nassar had gotten these young women to trust him and have no reason to question his authority. He would manipulate these athletes to believe that he was on their side while abusing them at the same time. At the beginning of the accusations, Nassar denied sexually abusing people. He also defended himself by saying that some of the actions he had carried out were just parts of the way he did his treatment.

Almost everyone who accused Nassar of sexually abusing them were patients of his, except for the daughter of a family friend. He would sexually abuse her every other week for six years before anyone else knew. Nassar was found with around 37,000 explicit images of minors in his possession. Investigators found the photos after obtaining a search warrant for Nassar’s house once the police learned of the multiple sex abuse allegations. 

USA Gymnastics had told their athletes to ‘keep quiet so as not to tip off the investigation’. Aly Raisman, the six-time Olympic gymnast, had made a statement at Nassar’s trial saying, “I felt guilty because you were a doctor so I assumed I was the problem for thinking badly of you”. All of these gymnasts had gone through so much physical, mental, and emotional pain because of Larry Nassar’s actions and USA Gymnastics' neglect towards the young women who went through tremendous amounts of trauma.

By Kate Tocci