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Aly Raisman, one of the most decorated American gymnasts in history, has confirmed she was sexually abused by longtime USA Gymnastics doctor Lawrence G Nassar in an interview with the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes.
Raisman, 23, said she spoke with FBI investigators after last year’s Rio Olympics, where she captained the United States to a gold medal in the team event and captured individual silvers in the all-around and floor exercise.
“Why are we looking at why didn’t the girls speak up? Why not look at what about the culture?” she said in an interview scheduled to air on Sunday night. “What did USA Gymnastics do, and Larry Nassar do, to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up?”
Nassar, an osteopath who spent nearly 30 years as trainer and national medical coordinator with the USA Gymnastics program, is now in prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. He faces 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving at least seven victims, in addition to being sued by over 125 women in civil court who claim he sexually assaulted them under the guise of treatment, and could receive a life sentence in prison.
Nassar has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges and the dozens of civil suits filed in Michigan are currently in mediation.
Matt Newburg, a defense attorney who has represented Nassar, declined to comment when reached on Friday by the Guardian.
Raisman, who started seeing Nassar when she was 15 before rising to fame with three medals at the London Games, first addressed the Nassar scandal in an August interview with the Associated Press, describing him as a “monster” and blasting USA Gymnastics for their mishandling of abuse allegations, but had previously declined to discuss whether she had been treated improperly by the physician, who served as the team’s doctor at four Olympics.
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Now the Massachusetts native, who details the abuse in a memoir due out this month, is calling for wholesale change.
“I am angry,” Raisman told 60 Minutes. “I’m really upset because it’s been – I care a lot you know, when I see these young girls that come up to me, and they ask for pictures or autographs, whatever it is, I just ... I can’t ... every time I look at them, every time I see them smiling, I just think ... I just want to create change so that they never, ever have to go through this.”
Raisman’s allegations come three weeks after McKayla Maroney, her team-mate from the 2012 gold medal-winning team known as the Fierce Five, detailed years of abuse by Nassar under the guise of treatment from the age of 13 until her retirement from the sport last year.
“People should know that this is not just happening in Hollywood,” Maroney wrote in a lengthy Twitter post inspired by the #MeToo movement, the hashtag campaign that’s encouraged victims of sexual harassment or assault to step forward with their stories. “This is happening everywhere. Wherever there is a position of power, there seems to be potential for abuse. I had a dream to go to the Olympics, and the things that I had to endure to get there, were unnecessary, and disgusting.”
In March, Jamie Dantzscher, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, and three-time national champion rhythmic gymnast Jessica Howard testified before Congress that they were sexually abused by Nassar.
“USA Gymnastics failed its most basic responsibility to protect the athletes under its care,” Dantzscher said during the 90-minute hearing.
She added: “Children often don’t speak up with they’re abused. They suffer in silence. They’re taught to submit to the authority of adults. This is especially true in the hyper-competitive world of elite gymnastics. Women do speak up, and that is why I am here today.”
USA Gymnastics has come under fire over its handling of sexual abuse cases in the wake of the Nassar scandal and an Indianapolis Star investigation that revealed the failure to report to authorities many allegations of abuse against coaches and staff at some of its over 3,500 clubs across the country.
The intensified pressure led to the resignation of Steve Penny as president earlier this year, but not without a reported $1m severance package that drew sharp criticism from Raisman.
The governing body, which named Kerry Perry as their new president and CEO on Tuesday, has undergone an independent review overseen by former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels, whose 70 recommendations included “mandatory reporting” of suspicions of sexual abuse, with gyms facing the withholding of membership for failing to do so.
“USA Gymnastics is very sorry that any athlete has been harmed,” the organization said in a statement. “We want to work with Aly and all interested athletes to keep athletes safe.”