ESPN released on Wednesday the cover of its “Heroes Issue” featuring three time Olympic gold medalist and sexual abuse survivor Aly Raisman. Raisman got real about an important message in the issue, “We have to change the way our society views women.”
“To be honest, when I spoke out I didn’t realize how many people can relate to my story,” she told reporters at the Heroes Pre-EPSY’s. “I feel like every single day I have survivors coming up to me whether I’m at the grocery store, whether I’m at the mall – no matter if it’s at the airport, wherever it is people are sharing their stories with me. I realize that there are so many people out there that can relate, so I want to continue to speak out and call attention to such an important issue. Right now I am just trying to take things day by day.”
Aly Raisman is on the cover of ESPN the Magazine’s “Heroes Issue.”
Tonight, she and her fellow sister survivors will accept the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYS. pic.twitter.com/W6v2LDqPB1
— ESPN (@espn) July 18, 2018
She spoke about USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar in the cover story.
“There are so many people out there that are survivors, but there are few that have a voice. I know that I’m one of the few that are being heard, so I just want to do right by people,” Raisman said.
The article documents Raisman deep in conversation with Tiffany Thomas Lopez, who is a former Michigan State softball player and Nassar sexual abuse survivor. Lopez first met Nassar in 1998.
“I was 4. Jordyn [Wieber] was 3,” Raisman said in reference to the ages they were in 1998. “We never should’ve met him.”
Raisman doesn’t place the blame on Lopez for not reporting her abuse sooner, but blames the institutions for allowing Nassar’s abuse to continue for so long.
Earlier this year, Raisman faced Nassar in court, where she read an incredibly powerful impact statement about the sexual abuse he forced on her and hundreds of other athlete. All of which was under the appearance of medical treatment. Nassar was sentenced up to 175 years in prison, and an additional 60 years from federal court for possession of child pornography.
Since the sentencing, Raisman has continued to speak out on the abuse in gymnastics to conferences, college campuses, and in interviews.
Tonight, ESPN will host the ESPY Awards, which is an annual celebration of athletic achievements from the previous year. Raisman along with other athletes and sexual abuse survivors will receive the 2018 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.