Olympians among gymnasts seeking $1B from FBI in sexual assault case
Olympic gold medalist
Simone Biles and dozens of other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop the now convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations against him, lawyers said Wednesday.
There’s no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused of assaulting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year.
“It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” said
Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19.
Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claims filed Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI’s response.
The approximately 90 claimants include Biles,
Aly Raisman and
McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law firm.
“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.
ETC.
Soccer: By coming from behind to rout Poland 6-1, Belgium’s players gave an emphatic response to those questioning the team’s commitment to the Nations League at the end of a long season and, in particular, after a 4-1 loss to the Netherlands on Friday. Belgium coach Roberto Martinez had been quick to dismiss suggestions of his players lacking desire, and they backed up that support by recovering from going behind to
Robert Lewandowski’s 76th goal for Poland.
Leandro Trossard scored twice for Belgium. The Netherlands stayed in front in the group by scoring in the fourth minute of stoppage time on Wout Weghorst’s diving header to beat Wales 2-1.
Tennis: Matteo Berrettini marked his injury comeback with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Radu Albot in the second round of the Stuttgart Open. Also, Benjamin
Bonzi defeated fellow French player Arthur Rinderknech 7-6
(3), 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against either fourthseeded Denis Shapovalov or German player Oscar Otte.
Olympics: Most basketball games at the Paris Olympics could be played a three-hour journey outside the host city, a plan criticized Wednesday by the sport’s governing body trying to get a better deal for players. Paris organizers have struggled to find agreement on a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games, and the latest proposal is the soccer stadium in Lille — about 130 miles from Paris. The previous plan was to use an arena in the capital, but that venue was dropped in March amid a backlash by NBA players from France who said the ceiling was too low for basketball.