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The ‘Larry Nassar case’ shook the foundations of the world of gymnastics. The monster who abused hundreds of gymnasts in USA returns to the present after Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, all of them Olympians, have testified before the US Senate this Wednesday.
The gymnasts have not only focused on the figure of the former doctor of the United States national artistic gymnastics team, but also on the entire system that did not listen to them. In 2015, very harsh testimonies of the young women were put on the table of different agents of the FBI and they all turned a deaf ear.
Simone Biles herself, visibly moved during her testimony, was emphatic in stating that “USA Gymnastics knew that the official doctor of their team abused me long before I was aware of his knowledge.” Larry Nassar was convicted of sexually abusing than hundreds of athletes in 2018.
Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, in the US Senate
“I do not want any other young Olympian or any other individual to suffer the horror that I and that hundreds of others have endured and continue to endure to this day,” the best gymnast of all time told the United States Senate judicial committee. The question is: why did the FBI downplay the gymnasts’ testimonies about the sexual abuse they suffered?
Biles’ complaint
a United States Senate Committee wants to clarify why the FBI acted that way, or rather why its inaction, when hundreds of gymnasts denounced Larry Nassar for sexually abusing them. The testimonies of the four athletes have done nothing to show that the culprits go beyond the former doctor and criminal.
“I have won 25 medals in World Cups, seven in Olympic Games, and I am a survivor of sexual abuse “, this is how Simone Biles presented herself before the US Senate. She then began a hard, horrifying story that is difficult to even listen or read. story that should never have happened.
Simone Biles, at the oath before testifying in front of the US Senate
“I blame Larry Nassar, but also the entire system that allowed and perpetrated his abuse” or “it really seems that the FBI turned a blind eye to us” are some of the serious accusations that Simone Biles made before the Committee. In fact, the gymnastics legend said that if she was there it is because she is “convinced” that if they don’t speak “this will continue to happen.”
Biles didn’t leave anything behind. “This is the largest case of sexual abuse in the history of American sports,” he confirmed. The 24-year-old said that “a message must be established, if you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be quick and serious enough.”
This is what Simone Biles and the rest of Larry Nassar’s victims are asking for. Let it not happen again that when faced with a complaint, the authorities look the other way. “The organizations created by Congress to supervise and protect me as an athlete, USA Gymnastics, United States Olympics and the Paralympic Committee, did not do their job,” he said.
Simone Biles, during her testimony before the US Senate
Simone Biles singled out not just Larry Nassar, but “the whole system that allowed and perpetrated it.” “They have failed us and we deserve answers,” said the American gymnast. This was the testimony of a gymnast who has even said that she slept for hours because it was “the closest thing to death.”
The FBI, singled out
In addition to Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols also gave testimony. Raisman recounted his experiences in 2015 to an FBI agent: “The agent who interviewed me wanted to convince me that it was not worth opening a criminal case against Nassar.”
McKayla Maroney, for his part, explained that when he was 13 years old, Larry Nassar stuck his fingers in his genitals for hours. When the gymnast told what happened to an FBI agent, he simply said “is that all?” Faced with this inaction by the federal agency, Aly Raisman told the Senate Committee that what they did was “serve innocent girls to a pedophile on a silver platter.”
For her part, Maggie Nichols alerted the authorities about what was happening with Larry Nassar. She was the first in a long list of whistleblowers, but what was found was a way to hide the crimes of abuse. The directors of the gymnastics team their parents were forbidden to go to the FBI. His career was cut short.
Senator Dianne Feinstei speaking with Aly Raisman, Simone Biles and McKayla Maroney
Nichols speaks of “betrayal” of the survivors by the United States Gymnastics Federation and the FBI. “This hearing is one of our last chances to obtain justice,” he added. And, precisely, the director of the FBI, Christopher WrayHe pointed out that they do not have “a good explanation for what happened”, acknowledging that they made “numerous and fundamental mistakes.”
The senators asked the gymnasts what should be done, in their opinion, to believe that justice has been done. Raisman was blunt: “If they are not going to protect me, I want to know who they are trying to protect. ”The FBI has found that several agents were negligent.
“The action and inaction of the FBI employees detailed in the report is totally unacceptable. They betrayed their fundamental duty to protect people,” Wray said. Investigations continue to clarify why some FBI agents did not fulfill their duty and let a pedophile end the innocence of hundreds of athletes who only wanted to fulfill their dream. A dream that turned into a nightmare.
[Más información: La gimnasia española y los abusos: el polémico caso que señala a la Federación contra niñas de 16 años]
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