By Kayla Cohen ‘21, Sports Editor

In September 2016, the news broke out that USA Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, had sexually abused many of the gymnasts he was supposed to be providing care for. Since then, more than 265 women, including Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas, have spoken out about the sexual assault they experienced while being a part of Team USA. And as gymnastics events are back in the spotlight in anticipation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the news surrounding gymnastics hopefuls is bringing this case and the history of USA Gymnastics back into the spotlight. 

Maggie Nichols, a previously high-ranked gymnast now competing for the University of Oklahoma, was one of the gymnasts who spoke out against Nassar. Her coach, Sarah Jantzi, overheard one of Maggie’s conversations and was the first person to report Nassar’s abuse to USA Gymnastics in 2015. It then took five weeks and McKayla Maroney’s and Aly Raisman’s additional accusations before the situation was reported to the FBI. 

In 2017, three gymnasts gave an interview on 60 Minutes, speaking about the “emotionally abusive environment” of the Karolyi Ranch in Texas, the location of monthly national team training camps. At the ranch, gymnasts as young as 12 were sent to doctor Larry Nassar to fix a range of injuries and told that he was “the best doctor.” Jordyn Wieber, a hopeful to win the all-around in the 2012 Olympics, says, “I would cringe at how uncomfortable it felt…I knew it felt strange, but he was the national team doctor. Who was I to question his treatments, or even more, risk my chance at making the Olympic team?” Wieber wonders if Nassar is to blame for her struggle in Olympic qualifiers that resulted in her inability to compete in the all-around final. She was dealing with a stress fracture during the Olympics and was “treated” by him right before competing in the largest meet of her life. 

Nassar was originally sentenced in 2017 to 60 years in prison because of federal child pornography charges. Later that year, he received 40 to 175 additional years because of multiple charges of sexual assault. During Larry Nassar’s 8-day sentence hearing, 153 women shared their personal stories of abuse. Nassar shared a letter stating he couldn’t mentally handle listening to the statements, to which Judge Rosemarie Aquilina responded by telling Nassar he would listen to every statement. 

In October of 2018, Steve Penny, the former CEO of USA Gymnastics, was arrested for tampering evidence in the Nassar case, leading many to believe USA Gymnastics knew of this abuse for years and is to blame for the sexual assault the gymnasts experienced. Simone Biles is now one of the few accusers still competing for a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In a recent meet interview, she blamed USA Gymnastics for failing to do its “one damn job” of protecting its athletes. All the gymnasts competing nationally in gymnastics are still doing so under the same USA Gymnastics organization, making it difficult to compete under an organization that has failed them before. 

Although Nassar will remain in prison for the rest of his life, the list of gymnasts abused keeps growing as more women speak about their experiences while competing for USA Gymnastics. In addition, the trial has raised awareness for abuse in other sports, such as USA Swimming and USA Taekwondo, and other cases of abuse in gymnastics. Whether or not USA Gymnastics is at fault for the actions of Larry Nassar is still in question, but the case has put a new spotlight on protecting athletes in all sports.