Following several days of testimonies from victims, Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for 10 counts of criminal sexual misconduct. While the USA Gymnastics team has been somewhat vocal about the trial, the U.S. Olympics Committee remained rather quiet until the sentencing today.
On Monday, three top board members from USA Gymnastics resigned, as athletes who were abused by Nassar called out the organization for not protecting them while he served as the team's doctor. But as Deadspin reports, the USOC has even more changes in mind for USA Gymnastics, which they shared in a statement released today. Chief among them, the USOC CEO Scott Blackmun is calling on the entire USA Gymnastics 21-person board to resign.
“New leadership at the board level is critical and you recently saw three USAG board resignations,” the statement reads. “Further changes are necessary to help create a culture that fosters safe sport practice, offers athletes strong resources in education and reporting, and ensures the healing of the victims and survivors. This includes a full turnover of leadership from the past, which means that all current USAG directors must resign.”
Olympic athlete Aly Raisman is among those who publicly accused Nassar. During her testimony she brought up the USOC's failure to be present during the hearing. “Why have I and others here probably not heard anything from the leadership at the USOC?" she asked. "Why has the United States Olympic Committee been silent? Why isn’t the USOC here right now?”
In the statement, Blackmun apologized on behalf of the USOC for its absence.
“The athlete testimony that just concluded in the Nassar hearings framed the tragedy through the eyes of the victims and survivors, and was worse than our own worst fears... The USOC should have been there to hear it in person, and I am deeply sorry that did not happen,” he wrote. “The purpose of this message is to tell all of Nassar’s victims and survivors, directly, how incredibly sorry we are. We have said it in other contexts, but we have not been direct enough with you. We are sorry for the pain caused by this terrible man, and sorry that you weren’t afforded a safe opportunity to pursue your sports dreams. The Olympic family is among those that have failed you.”
The USOC decided not to decertify USA Gymnastics, but said it is looking for changes in the governance structure and launching an independent investigation. The NCAA announced yesterday that it’s investigating Michigan State’s complicity in Nassar’s actions as well.
