Olympians confront sex abuse doctor
A GOLD medal-winning Olympian has confronted disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar at his sentencing to reveal he abused her, too.
Jordyn Wieber is the fourth member of the Fierce Five, the winning 2012 Summer Olympics squad, to accuse him.
She joins teammates Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney, who all said Nassar, 54, molested them as teenagers.
More than 100 victims have come forward. Nassar has admitted 10 criminal counts and could face life in prison.
In emotional testimony, 22year-old Ms Wieber delivered her statement in court near Lansing, Michigan.
“I thought that training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do,” she said.
“But, in fact, the hardest thing I have ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar.”
The judge has allowed scores of Nassar’s victims to address him in court.
Ms Wieber, standing next to her teammate Ms Raisman, said she was first molested by Nassar at 14.
She told the court that Nassar had often been one of the only men allowed at training camp in Texas and he would sometimes be in their hotel rooms alone and unsupervised.
“I had no idea he was sexually abusing me for his own benefit,” a tearful Ms Wieber said. “To this day, I still don’t know how he could’ve been allowed to do this for so long.
“I’m angry with myself for not recognising the abuse and that’s something I’m struggling with today. USA Gymnastics is accountable. The US Olympic Committee is accountable.”
Earlier, Ms Raisman, 23, called the women who have come forward an “army of survivors”.
“And now, Larry, it’s your turn to listen to me,” she said.
“The tables have turned, Larry. We are here. We have our voices, and we are not going anywhere.”
Ms Raisman added: “I am here to face you, Larry, so you can see I have regained my strength, that I’m no longer a victim. I’m a survivor.
“Larry, you do realise now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period, are now a force and you are nothing.”
Ms Raisman, who was team captain at the 2012 and 2016 Games in London and Rio, de- scribed her dread at being treated by Dr Nassar when she was a teenager. “I don’t want you to be there, but I don’t have a choice,” she said. “Treatments with you were mandatory, you took advantage of that.”
Another gymnast, Anya Gillengerten, 33, said Nassar had touched and groped her many times when she was a teenager.
“The anxiety and depression has overtaken my life,” she said. “I feel like I can breathe. This pain will never leave me.”
Nassar’s sentencing could continue into tomorrow as victims continue to come forward,
He already faces 60 years behind bars after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.