Prominent gymnasts renew call for change
A coalition of former elite gymnasts — including two Olympians — is demanding USA Gymnastics take stronger, proactive steps to protect young athletes from sexual abuse.
The 10 women spoke out after an IndyStar investigation revealed top officials at USA Gymnastics failed to report many allegations of sex abuse to police. The investigation also prompted 28 women to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against longtime team doctor Larry Nassar.
“The continued exposure and continued claims just further demonstrate that USA Gymnastics has not made it a priority and is not taking it seriously and is unresponsive,” former National Team member Jessica Armstrong said. “And that’s really, really disappointing.”
It’s not the first time that Armstrong and other elite gymnasts have called for change.
Four years ago, Armstrong and New York-based attorney Jenny Spiegel, also a former gymnast, developed a detailed proposal to strengthen the national governing body’s bylaws and policies and close loopholes they believe enabled sexual predators to remain involved with the sport.
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The decision to analyze USA Gymnastics’ bylaws was driven by Armstrong, who was sexually abused by a gymnastics coach. She said she became concerned when she learned her former coach still was working with children.
Among Armstrong and Spiegel’s recommendations:
- Clubs be required rather than encouraged to adopt policies and procedures designed to prevent sexual misconduct and agree to be subject to USA Gymnastics jurisdiction.
- Establish an abuse reporting hotline so parents and athletes can discuss concerns and make anonymous complaints.
- Extend the jurisdiction of USA Gymnastics to include all personnel, including volunteers, at member gyms.
With the proposals in hand, the pair enlisted 19 former elite gymnasts to endorse the plan. Kathy Johnson Clarke and Tracee Talavera, who were Olympians in 1980 and 1984, and former National Champions Jen Sey and Sabrina Mar were among those who signed on to the proposal.
Also endorsing the plan was Cathy Rigby, whose performances in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics are widely credited with sparking America’s love affair with women’s gymnastics — a relationship that catapulted USA Gymnastics into a big-time brand that brings in tens of millions of dollars in dues and sponsorship fees.
Not far enough
Armstrong said they sent the gymnasts’ proposal to USA Gymnastics in 2012.
Spiegel called the organization's headquarters in Indianapolis to ask where she could send the recommendations. USA Gymnastics told her to send the information to former Olympian John Roethlisberger, then-president of its Athletes’ Council. One of the council’s responsibilities is to bring athlete concerns to the organization’s leadership.
On May 29, 2012, Spiegel emailed Roethlisberger the recommendations, the list of gymnasts who endorsed the proposal and a letter urging action. IndyStar obtained copies of the email and attachments. Spiegel followed up with a phone call but never received a response.
Roethlisberger told IndyStar he could not recall receiving the recommendations, nor could he find any record of them in his emails. If he had, Roethlisberger said, he would have forwarded them to someone at USA Gymnastics.
In a statement to IndyStar, USA Gymnastics said it has no record of receiving the proposal but is “continually reviewing, evaluating and updating its policies and procedures in this important area.” The Indianapolis-based organization said it has independently addressed several of the points mentioned in the documentation forwarded by IndyStar.
Armstrong said she and Spiegel stopped pursuing the proposal in 2012 because they felt they’d hit a dead end. She said there is more momentum now, and even more reason for USA Gymnastics to make changes.
“While they may have implemented some of the proposals, they did not go far enough to adequately close loopholes — as evidenced by the ongoing claims of abuse that are still surfacing,” Armstrong said.
In the four years since the gymnasts sent their proposal to USA Gymnastics, at least 11 member coaches have been arrested on charges relating to sexual misconduct with children. The organization also has been hit with two lawsuits alleging officials failed to take adequate steps to protect young gymnasts from sexual abuse. And USA Gymnastics officials confirmed the FBI is investigating Nassar.
The criminal investigations and the lawsuits show how sexual abuse cuts across all levels of the sport — from Olympians to recreational gymnasts at local clubs across the U.S.
Yet USA Gymnastics seems to be more interested in avoidance than in pursuing avenues that would make athletes safer, said Sey, a former National Champion who endorsed the proposed fixes.
“I saw the ways in which the gyms and coaches were put before the athletes, and information, allegations, suspicions and even direct reports were swept under the rug to protect a powerful coach or a prominent gym,” she said.
‘Tired of beating my head against the wall’
Former Olympian Talavera, who coached gymnastics for 18 years after competing as an athlete, said she has seen lives ruined by abuse.
She told IndyStar that the majority of people involved in gymnastics are good and, overall, it’s a safe sport. But, Talavera added, the small percentage of bad people are a problem that can’t be ignored.
“Knowing that this all has been going on and nothing has happened definitely made me endorse the whole proposal,” she said.
Johnson Clarke, another former Olympian who endorsed the 2012 recommendations, has been advocating for change for years. She served as an Olympic spokeswoman for Childhelp’s Blow the Whistle on Child Abuse campaign and has urged Congress to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse in all 50 states and make it mandatory for everyone to report suspected abuse.
At a minimum, Johnson Clarke said, every state should require sports governing bodies and coaches, gym owners and other gym staff to report any and all complaints of sexual abuse of a minor.
She told IndyStar that she speaks out because she loves gymnastics and wants athletes to be safe. It’s a mission she also promotes on social media.
“I am tired of beating my head against the wall while screaming to the ends of the Earth, but I will keep pushing until change is made!” Johnson Clarke wrote on Facebook.
She shared her frustration after IndyStar’s investigation revealed USA Gymnastics officials often dismissed as “hearsay” abuse reports that did not come directly from the victim or the victim's parent or guardian. In sworn testimony, USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny also said the organization must move carefully on complaints because a coach is as much a member as an athlete.
“You cannot hear these ‘stories,’ even if it is second or third hand, and just sit on it out of fear of damaging the reputation of a coach or gym in the event they are falsely accused,” Johnson Clarke said on Facebook. “Err on the side of the child! Report! Investigate! Prosecute! If the accused has been falsely maligned it is far easier to ‘fix’ that than a broken child!”
Johnson Clarke said people should report to police first, but many individuals confronted with child sexual abuse are caught off guard and aren’t prepared for how and to whom to report. Johnson Clarke said she believes people in the gymnastics community thought they were doing the right thing by reaching out to USA Gymnastics for expert guidance, especially if what they were reporting was secondhand information, rumors or a concern.
Johnson Clarke said she is grateful to USA Gymnastics for the opportunities and support it provided during her career. She said she wants to work with the organization — not against it — to make the sport safe for everyone.
“EVERYONE in our sport agrees that it takes a village, and we are all a part of this village,” Johnson Clarke wrote on Facebook.
“With the USAG the proverbial head of the village, we will simply keep pointing the finger and trying to place blame in the ‘right’ place. To what end? Instead we must hold the organization that benefits greatly when our athletes succeed, both monetarily and in reputation, but must also must be held accountable when they fail or fall short of what they can and should do to protect the kids that enter our gyms. Otherwise, we ALL fail.”
Call IndyStar reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at (317) 444-6135. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyMarisaK.
Call IndyStar reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him on Twitter: @markalesia.
Call IndyStar reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.
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IndyStar will continue to investigate this topic. If you have information you would like to share, please email investigations@indystar.com or call (317) 444-6262.
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