USAG prez out over Kap tweet
Mary Bono’s tenure as the interim president of USA Gymnastics is already over.
Bono, who was appointed to the position Friday, resigned Tuesday after an ugly first weekend marred by criticism for a controversial tweet about Colin Kaepernick.
Shortly after the announcement that Bono would replace Kerry Perry, who resigned as part of the Larry Nassar scandal, Olympic star Simone Biles responded to the tweet, which has since been deleted, that showed Bono drawing over a Nike logo on her golf shoe in protest of the company’s advertising campaign with Kaepernick.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter USA Gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything,” Biles tweeted.
Gymnast Aly Raisman also joined the charge against Bono, who used to work at the law firm that worked with Nassar.
Bono resigned in a lengthy statement “in the wake of personal attacks that, left undefended, would have made my leading USAG a liability for the organization.”
“With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his first amendment right to kneel,” she wrote. “I exercised mine: to mark over on my own golf shoes, the logo of the company sponsoring him for ‘believing in something even if it means sacrificing everything’ — while at a tournament for families who have lost a member of the armed services (including my brother-in-law, a Navy SEAL) who
literally ‘sacrificed everything.’ It was an emotional reaction to the sponsor’s use of that phrase that caused me to tweet, and I regret that at the time I didn’t better clarify my feelings. That one tweet has now been made the litmus test of my reputation over almost two decades of public service.”
The USAG Board of Directors said Bono’s resignation is “in the best interest of the organization” and said they “remain steadfast in our efforts to fundamentally transform the organization at all levels to ensure athlete safety and well-being is at the heart of everything we do.”
“While we have made progress, we have much more work to do,” the group said in a statement. “This board is determined to take the necessary steps to support a safe, inclusive and competitive environment where all our athletes and members can grow, have fun and achieve their goals.”