Olympic mission lies in tatters after report

With every new revelation, both USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee become more despicable. It isn’t just one sport that is damaged — though it remains to be seen how gymnastics goes forward in this country — it is the entire Olympic movement.

This week’s report, released by a law firm hired to investigate the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse scandal, paints a picture of complete institutional failure. The USOC’s highest-ranking officials worked to protect their institutional interests rather than act on behalf of their young, vulnerable athletes.

It wasn’t only USA Gymnastics that completely failed its mission and its athletes as it looked the other way, despite having knowledge of ongoing abuse by Nassar. It was the leaders of the entire American Olympic movement. The same people who wag their fingers at cheaters and abusers in Olympic sports around the world.

Eighteen months before the Tokyo games, our Olympic mission lies in tatters, lacking credibility. Arguably the most exciting athlete bound for Tokyo is a gymnast, Simone Biles. But USA Gymnastics has filed for bankruptcy, an apparent move to protect itself from lawsuits and delay the decertification process.

Although the report by the law firm Ropes & Gray focuses on activities in the past three years, this story started long before that. The report notes that the Karolyi Ranch — run by husband and wife coaches Bela and Martha — had been an official Olympic training site since 2011 yet there was no oversight to make sure it complied with any standards.

I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating: The abuse and horrors that took place at the Karolyi Ranch have been known to Olympic leaders since former Chronicle columnist Joan Ryan published “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes” in 1995. Though Ryan didn’t report on sexual abuse, the climate the Karolyis created was the perfect incubator to spawn abuse of all types. Any informed, responsible adult would recognize that.

But the Karolyis produced medals. They made USA Gymnastics one of the greatest points of pride in American Olympics. The young athletes they coached won gold and national glory, so the responsible adults looked the other way.

It took those athletes to finally blow the whistle on the adults. And shed light on this whole sickening chapter.