Every member of USA’s Olympic gymnastics board resigned over sexual abuse scandal

Thomas Phippen, DCNF

The entire board of directors of the USA’s Olympic gymnastics board have resigned as of Friday over the decades-long sexual abuse by the team’s former doctor.

After the sentencing of Larry Nasser, who pleaded guilty to molesting the gymnasts he cared for as official team doctor, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) demanded that the entire board of directors for the U.S.’s team resign, or the group would lose its authority.

“USA Gymnastics will comply with the USOC requirements,” Leslie King, a spokeswoman for USA Gymnastics, told Reuters in an e-mail on Friday.

Five members of the board had already resigned over the scandal, and the remaining 16 will resign by the Wednesday, per the USOC’s demand.

The scandal also impelled Michigan State University’s athletic director Mark Hollis to resign Friday, after the National Collegiate Athletic Association said it would investigate how the university handled allegations against Nassar. The doctor practiced sports medicine at the university while he was the lead doctor for the Olympic team.

“Everyone stood up for him,” former gymnastics gold medalist Aly Raisman said of the officials in the gymnastics team on ABC’s “The View.” “My work, and the army of survivors, we’re not done yet. We still have to hold these organizations accountable.”

The USOC said in a letter that it was not removing and replacing the board of directors because they protected Nassar. The committee said its decision was not based on “knowledge that any individual USAG staff or board members had a role in fostering or obscuring Nassar’s actions.”

The board must be rebuilt because “every athlete connected in any way with [USA Gymnastics] must feel safe, supported, and encouraged to speak freely about threats to their safety,” the committee wrote.

“My heart breaks for the survivors of Larry Nassar’s disgusting crimes,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. “What happened at Michigan State is abhorrent. It cannot ever happen again.” The Department of Education will also investigate Michigan State University.

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