Raisman files suit against USOC, USA Gymnastics
Olympic star wants answers regarding Nassar abuse scandal
Aly Raisman spent months urging the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics to get serious about taking a long hard look into how Larry Nassar’s abusive conduct was allowed to run unchecked for so long.
Frustrated by what she considers a lack of progress, the six-time Olympic medalist is hoping she can get some answers in court.
Raisman has filed a lawsuit against both organizations, claiming they “knew or should have known” about the abusive patterns of Nassar, a disgraced former national team doctor now in prison for sexually abusing young athletes.
Raisman filed the lawsuit in California on Wednesday. The filing alleges negligence by the USOC and USA Gymnastics for failing to make sure appropriate protocols were followed in regard to monitoring Nassar. Nassar, who is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, is serving decades in prison for molest-
ing some of the sport’s top athletes and others as well as child pornography crimes.
The 23-year-old Raisman, captain for both the gold-medal winning 2012 and 2016 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics teams, says she was abused by Nassar in multiple locations beginning in 2010, including at the U.S. national team training facility at the Karolyi Ranch training center in Texas and the 2012 Games in London. Raisman said she initially felt she was receiving medically necessary treatment by Nassar before realizing it was abuse. She battled shame, guilt and depression in the aftermath, Raisman said.
Nassar spent nearly three decades at USA Gymnastics before being fired in 2015 after complaints about his behavior. He continued to work at Michigan State University through the fall of 2016 before being hit with federal charges. Raisman said the USOC and USA Gymnastics allowed Nassar to continue abusing athletes by not telling the university about the conduct that led them to fire him.
USA Gymnastics has undergone a massive overhaul in the last year. Former president Steve Penny, named as a co-defendant in Raisman’s lawsuit, resigned last March and was replaced as president and CEO by University of New Mexico alumna Kerry Perry.
Raisman doesn’t believe either organization is going far enough fast enough for future generations of athletes.
“It has become painfully clear that these organizations have no intention of properly addressing this problem,” Raisman said.