Simone Biles would bar daughter from USA Gymnastics after Nassar scandal

[VA_Jill]

Simone Biles says she would not allow her daughter to be part of the USA Gymnastics set-up following the organizsation’s handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics, was given an effective life sentence in 2018 for abusing dozens of athletes in his care, including Biles.

During an appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, Biles was asked if she would let her daughter train with USA Gymnastics.

“No,” replied the four-times Olympic champion. “Because I don’t feel comfortable enough, because they haven’t taken accountability for their actions and what they’ve done.

“And they haven’t ensured us that it’s never going to happen again.”

More at: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/15/simone-biles-usa-gymnastics-daughter-larry-nassar-abuse

[tishaLA]

1. I don't pay much attention to gymnastics

and especially women's gymnastics because of all the problems in the sport that we knew about even before the sexual abuse came to light--the overtraining, the starvation, the verbal abuse--but I watched her interview on 60 Minutes and found it incredibly refreshing.

She is very much now cowed by USA Gymnastics (all she had to do was send out a tweet to get Mary Bono fired) and, besides being a spectacular athlete, is also incredibly self-possessed for someone so young.

[VA_Jill]

2. Gymnastics is not the only sport with this problem

Figure skating is awful and has covered up sex abuse by coaches for decades. Also abuse of female skaters by their partners in pairs skating and ice dance. And apparently there are similar problems with coaches in swimming, especially Olympic swimming.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Creepy

The penalties need to be more severe than they are.
Multiple prosecutions would help, and taking the status of coaches of amateur athletes down a few pegs would be another one.
The "untouchability" of successful coaches is a big problem.