Report: Culture change needed at USA Gymnastics

GYMNASTICS

USA Gymnastics has had a “largely ineffective approach” to preventing sexual abuse within the sport, failing both to keep pace with best practices and to hold noncompliant gyms and clubs accountable, according to a report commissioned by the sport’s Indianapolis-based national governing body released Tuesday.

In addition to recommending a series of changes to enact culture change within the sport, the 146-page report found that “over time, the practices of USA Gymnastics have not kept up with best practices in the field of child abuse protection, allowing for significant gaps and exposures regarding the prevention and reporting of child sexual abuse within the sport.”

The report is authored by Deborah J. Daniels, a former federal prosecutor also based in Indianapolis, who has been reviewing USA Gymnastics policies regarded child sexual abuse since late 2016.

The report’s release comes against the backdrop of the worst sexual abuse scandal in American sports history. More than a hundred former gymnasts and other young athletes have alleged in the last year that they were sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics women’s national and Olympic team physician Larry Nassar. USA Gymnastics officials also ignored complaints of sexual abuse by other coaches and gymnastics officials, according to court documents in other lawsuits. The organization has been the target of hearings and legislation in the U.S. Senate.

USA Gymnastics, its last three chief executives and longtime U.S. national and Olympic team coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi are being sued in several states by former gymnasts for creating an environment that enabled the sexual abuse by Nassar and others. Steve Penny, the most recent USA Gymnastics CEO, was forced to resign last spring.

The Daniels report concluded: “To set the tone for the entire sport, the words and deeds of the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors [ Board] and the administrative leadership must embody a culture of protection. In the past, the USA Gymnastics commitment to protecting the safety of the athletes has been questioned by various sources — the media, member clubs, the United States Olympic Committee, and others. To combat these doubts, the leadership must act swiftly, yet deliberately.”