Bono resigns as USA Gymnastics president after four days on job
When former California Congresswoman Mary Bono took over as the interim president for USA Gymnastics last week, she pointed to the opportunity to “reconnect” with a sport she loved growing up. The connection lasted all of four days. Bono stepped down Tuesday, saying she felt her affiliation with the embattled organization would be a “liability” after a social media post by Bono criticizing Nike and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick drew widespread scrutiny within the gymnastics community.
She posted a picture on Twitter in September of herself drawing over a Nike logo on a golf shoe. Bono, who was at a golf tournament for families who have lost members of the armed services at the time, called the tweet “an emotional reaction” to Nike’s use of the phrase “believing in something even if it means sacrificing everything.”
“I regret that at the time I didn’t better clarify my feelings,” Bono said in a statement.
Bono defended her right to express her beliefs, though she later deleted the tweet and the USA Gymnastics board of directors expressed its disappointment while pledging its support.
Not everyone, however, was won over by the surprise decision to hire Bono to help USA Gymnastics navigate its way through the fallout of the Larry Nassar scandal. More than 200 women have come forward over the last two years claiming they were sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of treatment during the former doctor’s time at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, including current or former members of the organization’s elite program.
Olympic champion Simone Biles, who is among the Nassar survivors, quote-tweeted Bono’s photo concerning Kaepernick on Saturday and wrote: “*mouth drop* don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”