Progress slow in wake of Nassar sex scandal
BOSTON » Simone Biles is not here to save gymnastics. Or at least USA Gymnastics.
The reigning Olympic champion understands how bumpy of a ride it has been for her sport’s national governing body since she stepped off the podium in Rio de Janeiro two years ago, a fourth Olympic gold medal around her neck and the world at her feet. Biles doesn’t really care. The 21-year-old revealed in January she is among the hundreds of athletes who were abused by Larry Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. The longtime former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State team doctor Larry Nassar is serving an effective life sentence after being convicted of federal child pornography and state sexual abuse charges. The fallout, which began in the fall of 2016 when the first victims came out publicly, continues to consume one of the U.S. Olympic movement’s marquee programs nearly two years later.
It’s put athletes like Biles in a tough spot. There’s been so much chaos atop the organization they compete for — including a nearly complete overhaul among the leadership , numerous legal battles and murky details on how to implement the necessary changes in the wake of the Nassar scandal — that they’re not sure how to respond.
Asked Wednesday if thinks USA Gymnastics is headed down the right path, Biles offered an answer that spoke volumes about the iffy confidence in the new president Kerry Perry and a recently reappointed board.
“That’s a good question,” Biles said as she prepared for the U.S. championships that begin Friday at the new Boston Garden. “I’m not so sure yet. Hopefully, it’s going in the right direction but nobody can know until Kerry Perry speaks up. It’s kind of hard.”
Asked if she thinks it’s time for Perry to take on a more public persona, Biles responded simply “yes, it’s her job.”
Maybe, but it’s one that Perry has largely sidestepped since being hired last fall to replace Steve Penny, who resigned under pressure in March 2017.
“My focus is going to be creating an environment of empowerment where all have a strong voice and we are dedicated every single day on athlete safety,” Perry said on the day she was hired last November.
Yet in the eight-plus months since taking over, one of the voices that seems to be missing is Perry’s. Though she has made a concerted effort to visit as many of the 3,546 member gyms across the country since taking over, she’s only put a small dent in that number. When it comes to becoming the public face of the organization, she’s stayed in the shadows.
Outside of a couple of appearances in front of lawmakers on Capitol Hill and brief remarks on a teleconferences with reporters, Perry has yet to articulate a way forward outside of generic and carefully crafted open letters. There is a growing sense of frustration not just among athletes at the elite level but also among the gym owners and operators that serve as the organization’s lifeblood.
“The communication from the top down has been really reactive and disjointed,” said Kim Ransom, who runs Pittsburgh Gymnastics Club in the eastern exurb of Braddock. “We get mass emails kind of bombed to us when there’s a catastrophe in the news and it’s sort of just feels very forced and contrived ... It feels like nobody is being real with us.”