Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

USA GYMNASTICS board of directors to resign.

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USA Gymnastics confirmed Friday that its entire board of directors will resign as requested by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The U.S. Olympic Committee had demanded that every member of the USA Gymnastics board resign within six days as part of an overhaul in response to the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.

Calling for a “categorica­lly fresh start,” USOC officials threatened to decertify the national governing body if it did not satisfy a series of swift reforms.

“We do not base these requiremen­ts on any knowledge that any individual USAG staff or board members had a role in fostering or obscuring Nassar’s actions,” USOC Chief Executive

Scott Blackmun wrote. “Our position comes from a clear sense that USAG culture needs a fundamenta­l rebuilding.”

The demands were included in a letter sent to the gymnastics organizati­on’s Indianapol­is headquarte­rs on Thursday, shortly after Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for molesting young athletes.

Scores of women — including Olympic champions such as Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney — have said Nassar sexually abused them while he was serving in an official capacity for USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University and other organizati­ons.

The former Olympic team doctor was sentenced to 60 years on child pornograph­y charges.

Fallout from the scandal has already prompted the suspension of Olympic coach John Geddert and the resignatio­n of three key USA Gymnastics board members. Lou Anna Simon, the president of Michigan State, also stepped down on Thursday.

USA Gymnastics vowed to adhere to the latest USOC demands.

“We understand that the requiremen­ts imposed by the letter will help us enhance our ability to build a culture of empowermen­t throughout the organizati­on, with an increased focus on athlete safety and wellbeing,” the national governing body said.

The USOC asked that an interim board be establishe­d by the end of February and that permanent replacemen­ts be found within 12 months. It also seeks to have a designated liaison present at all future board meetings.

USA Gymnastics has been ordered to cooperate with an independen­t investigat­ion commission­ed by the USOC to determine when complaints were first brought against Nassar and why his actions went unaddresse­d over the course of decades.

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