RAISMAN USES HER VOICE
Needham native takes stand against disgraced doctor
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman can add another incredible feat to her list of accomplishments.
The 23-year-old Needham native sat in a Michigan courtroom yesterday, looked disgraced doctor Larry Nassar in the eye, and slowly took the power back from her longtime abuser.
“Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force and you are nothing,” Raisman said, her voice steady and her face stoic. “The tables have turned, Larry. We are here, we have our voices, and we are not going anywhere. And now, Larry, it’s your turn to listen to me.”
Raisman, who won three gold medals for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team in 2012 and 2016, appeared in Ingram County Circuit Court yesterday alongside her 2012 teammate Jordyn Wieber.
Raisman had not planned to face Nassar in court, but made a last-minute decision after she was inspired by statements from more than 100 other women who say they were abused by the doctor during mandatory visits.
“I am here to face you, Larry, so you can see that I’ve regained my strength, that I am no longer a victim — I am a survivor. I am no longer that little girl you met in Australia where you first began grooming and manipulating,” Raisman said.
Raisman’s courage was hailed both by the judge who is hearing the case and by her longtime Bay State fans.
“You were never the problem, but you are so much the solution,” Judge Rosemaire Aquilina told Raisman. “You are unstoppable. You are part of an unstoppable growing force, an unstoppable, strong, loud voice.”
Back in Needham, Sandra Cincotta, a town official who has held rallies in Raisman’s honor, said her decision to take a stand is a testament to her strength.
“She’s such a strong role model for so many girls,”
‘I think this will empower girls to know that they can take a stand if anything happens to them.’ — SANDRA CINCOTTA Needham town official
Cincotta said. “I think this will empower girls to know that they can take a stand if anything happens to them.”
Massachusetts native and 1976 bronze medal gymnast Peter Kormann said Raisman’s actions are nothing short of “heroic.”
“I applaud Aly and all the girls who came forward,” said Kormann, who was head coach for the USA men’s team from 1996-2001. “I hope they can heal, and I hope USA Gymnastics steps forward and helps them in any way possible.”
Raisman has shown unwavering determination since she was a child, said Phyllis Noller, a longtime family friend who recalled watching the young woman give up things that many teen girls take for granted — such as school dances — so she could achieve her dream of competing in the Olympics.
“She was always a strongwilled kid,” said Noller, of Lake Worth, Fla. “She was always good. Always determined.”
It’s no surprise, she said, that Raisman overcame her fear and took the stand to deliver those eloquently scathing remarks.
“I think it’s very hard for anyone in that situation to come forward as she did,” Noller said. “And it’s the only way these things can be stopped.”
The gymnast’s statement came on the fourth day of sentencing for Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. In November, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct.
He now faces a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum sentence of life. Nassar is already serving a 60-year sentence for child pornography.
Testimony by sexual assault survivors will continue next week, with sentencing to follow.