Last week, another member of the 2012 USA Olympic Gymnastic Team made allegations against Larry Nassar, the team’s doctor. Aly Raisman is the second member of “The Fierce Five” to make allegations against Nassar. In an interview with “60 Minutes,” she refused to speak about what had actually happened, but did say that she was 15-years-old when the sexual abuse started. She, along with McKayla Maroney, have begun to tell their stories, hoping to get some kind of justice. Maroney reported the abuse last month, saying that it did not just happen at the London 2012 games, but that the abuse began when she was 13-years-old at one of the USA national team training camps in Texas.
Larry Nassar, 53, has been charged with sexual conduct with minors in the state of Michigan, where he practiced osteopathy and has now been named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by athletes, who say he abused them under the pretense of medical treatment for injuries sustained during practice or meets. In most cases, they claim Nassar penetrated them with bare fingers under the guise of relieving pain. Nassar stopped working for USA Gymnastics in 2015, when the organization began to report concerns from athletes about Nassar to police. Michigan State University fired Nassar last year while investigating different athlete’s allegations of abuse. He pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges last July, and is currently in jail awaiting sentencing.
Raisman came forward with her allegations due to wanting to protect younger athletes coming into the field, as well as trying to influence change in the power structure of USA Gymnastics. Back in August, she actually criticized USA Gymnastics for how they had been handling the issues that arose around Nassar, by stating:
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the Olympic champion or you’re an 8-year-old that goes to gymnastics in Ohio, or wherever you are in the United States,” she told USA Today and the Associated Press. “Every single kid is important, and I want USA Gymnastics to do a better job with that.”
However, USA Gymnastics wanted to defend themselves and their ways and released a statement in response to Raisman’s statement that said:
“We are appalled by the conduct of which Larry Nassar is accused, and we are very sorry that any athlete has been harmed during her or his gymnastics career. Aly’s passion and concern for athlete safety is shared by USA Gymnastics. Our athletes are our priority, and we are committed to promoting an environment of empowerment that encourages speaking up, especially on difficult topics like abuse, as well the protection of athletes at all levels throughout our gymnastics community.”
Last year, the Indianapolis Star lead an investigation that found that at least 368 gymnasts have raised allegations of some sort of sexual assault at the hands of their coaches, and or other adults involved with the sport, had happened and had been reported. Also, a previous Indianapolis Star investigation found that USA Gymnastics routinely failed to tell police about many of the different allegations that had occurred under the organization’s sponsorship, and allowed predatory coaches to move from gym to gym. As a result, USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny resigned in March 2017 and the organization brought in a former federal prosecutor, Deborah Daniels, to review its ways of handling situations. What Daniels found was astounding. Daniels found that the organization needed a “complete culture change” and made 70 different recommendations as to how that should happen, to which USA Gymnastics has stated that they plan on adopting all of the recommendations made.
In 2015, an investigator working for USA Gymnastics approached Raisman about Nassar. But she said it wasn’t until after she spoke with the investigator that she began to realize Nassar’s treatment was not normal. Raisman said she will not discuss the graphic details of what Nassar did to her, but she does provide new insight into a scandal that goes to the highest level of her sport. She said a lot of people have asked her why Nassar’s accusers didn’t speak up sooner. Raisman pointed out that when critics question why athletes took so long to speak out, the conversation is framed incorrectly and should be refocused on the perpetrator.
Although Maroney and Raisman are the only two on the team to come out with their stories publicly, the public is awaiting more to come out, since other gymnasts have begun to start talking about their own experiences with sexual abuse.