By Samantha Keller ‘19, Sports Editor 

Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, and Megyn Kelly are just a few of the many names that might ring a bell in the recently growing #MeToo movement that has surfaced over the past year. This movement has infiltrated a variety of professions, ranging from the entertainment industry all the way to the business setting. Two environments that have received less media attention for this cause are children facing sexual abuse and athletes facing sexual abuse. Unfortunately for USA gymnast Maggie Nichols, she falls under both categories.

Nichols’ story is chillingly similar to those that are spread around the media every week: the innocent female versus the power-house male, Maggie Nichols versus Dr. Larry Nassar. Nichols began her gymnastic career at the young age of three years old and has been competing ever since. Setting her sights on competing in the Olympics one day, as most athletes do, Nichols came close to fulfilling this dream in the 2016 Olympics before she was sidelined for an injury. It was four years earlier, at the age of 13, that Maggie Nichols first met Dr. Larry Nassar when she was receiving treatment for an elbow injury. Nassar held immense credibility in his profession, commonly regarded as one of the best by many coaches and staff within the gymnastics community. Nassar, coming from Michigan State University, was assigned as the Team USA doctor at the Olympic Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch.

What Nichols first believed was routine treatment and therapy quickly turned into obvious exploitation. In the summer of 2015, Nichols, with the support of her coach, reported Nassar’s actions to USA Gymnastics. Though investigations began after Nichols’ allegation, USA Gymnastics refrained from involving the FBI until five weeks after Nichols’ report, when other public figures including Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney defended Nichols’ accounts with stories of similar experiences.

Looking back on her experiences, in her statement regarding this abuse scandal, Nichols explained, “USA Gymnastics and the USOC did not provide a safe environment for me and my teammates to train. We were subjected to Dr. Nassar at every National Team Camp which occurred monthly at the Karolyi Ranch.” To this date, more than 135 athletes have compounded Nichols’ story with allegations of Nassar’s exploitation and a mutual agreement that USA Gymnastics was complicit in not addressing reports of sexual abuse properly.

All Nichols wanted was the quickest, safest recovery, putting her trust into Dr. Nassar to help her achieve this goal. In this same statement, Nichols revealed, “I accepted what he was doing because I was told by adults that he was the best doctor and he could help relieve my pain.” Interestingly, when Newark Academy junior Gabby Neibart, a committed soccer player, was asked to comment on the relationship between an athlete and their trainer, she had a similar outlook: “Injuries are a scary thing for any serious athlete. That’s why trust between an athlete and their trainer is crucial for recovery.” It was Dr. Larry Nassar’s violation of this blind trust that landed him behind bars for the remainder of his life, and left Nichols, Raisman, Maroney, and every other young athlete with a small sense of justice.