US gymnast speaks on how she was sexually assaulted by former US Gymnast ‘cotach’.
On Wednesday, four American medal-winning athletes reported being sexually assaulted by former US gymnast Larry Nassar.
They expressed their frustration by relating traumatic and photographic remarks during the Senate over the FBI’s mismanagement of Nassar shares.
“I don’t want another gymnast, or an Olympic athlete, or anyone else to experience the fears that I and hundreds of others have experienced before, when and today as a result of Larry Nassar’s abuse,” Simone Biles, who won 25 championship medals of the world and seven Olympic medals for the American team, she said in her opening statement.
She said organizations set up to protect athletes, such as USA Gymnastics and the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee, “have not done their job.” she also said the FBI “closed its eyes”.
“We are hurt and we continue to suffer because no one in the FBI, USAG or USOPC did what was needed to protect us,” she said. “We have failed and we deserve answers. “
The hearing of the Senate Judicial Committee came after a report by the Auditor General of the July Legal Department clarified the FBI’s mismanagement of the Nassar case. The report found that bodybuilders contacted the FBI about sexual harassment in 2015, but continued to treat them physically at Michigan State University, high school, and gym club until September 2016.
In 2017, Nassar confessed to the offense of humiliating 10 of the more than 265 women and girls who came forward to say they had been assaulted. He is now in prison and will serve for 175 years.
Coaches McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols also spoke at the Wednesday hearing. They called on the institutions and people they were supposed to protect to be held accountable.
The MPs asked the gymnasts what kind of role they would like to see. Raisman said an independent investigation should examine the relationship between the FBI, USA Gymnastics and the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
“No one should be banned. Nothing should be banned, ”she said. “Personally, I would like all three organizations to be fully investigated. “
Christopher Wray, who became director of the FBI in 2017, apologized for not investigating allegations that the agency was making changes as mandatory training. He also said the FBI agent accused of failing to investigate the allegations was fired.
“It has no excuse. It should never have happened, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that it does not happen again,” he said.
“I would like to make a promise to the women who appeared here today and to all the victims of abuse. I have no intention of just correcting mistakes and moving on, ”Wray continued. “It is my commitment to you that I and my entire management team will make sure everyone in the FBI remembers what happened here in detail of the injury.”
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