USA Gymnastics’ status as the sport’s national governing body will be terminated unless it meets six conditions set out by the U.S. Olympic Committee, including the resignation of the entire board by next Wednesday.
USOC CEO Scott Blackmun outlined the conditions in an email sent Thursday to the USA Gymnastics board. While Blackmun had called on the board to resign Wednesday in an open letter to the Olympic community, the email was far more specific in both what the USOC expects from USA Gymnastics and the repercussions if it doesn’t deliver.
The letter comes a day after former national team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing girls and young women under his care. More than 150 women say he abused them, including Olympic champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber.
“We do not base these requirements on any knowledge that any individual USAG staff or board members had a role in fostering or obscuring Nassar’s actions,” Blackmun wrote. “Our position comes from a clear sense that USAG culture needs fundamental rebuilding.”
In victim impact statements during Nassar’s sentencing hearing, USA Gymnastics and the USOC repeatedly were criticized for not doing enough to protect athletes from abuse. Raisman has been the most pointed, saying in court last week that USA Gymnastics was an organization “rotting from the inside,” and calling out the USOC for its lack of public support.
While the chair, vice chair and treasurer resigned Monday, Blackmun said the rest of the 21-member board must go, too. The federation, Blackmun wrote, needs a "categorically fresh start at the board level."
USA Gymnastics will face immediate decertification unless an interim board is in place by Feb. 28, according to Blackmun’s email. No one currently serving on the board is eligible to be an interim member except the five athlete representatives.
The federation then has 12 months to replace the interim directors. Current board members are not eligible for those seats, either.
Also within that 12 months, USA Gymnastics must cooperate with the independent investigation into whether anyone knew about athlete complaints of Nassar’s abuse and didn’t report them and the systemic failures that contributed with his ability to go unchecked for so long.
The board also must “substantively discuss” at each of its meetings how the federation is progressing in implementing 70 recommendations made by former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels, whose review of USA Gymnastics found a “complete cultural change” was needed. It must then report its progress to the USOC.
The USA Gymnastics board was quick to accept all of Daniels’ recommendations, but it has been slow to implement them.
Before the leadership of the board of directors resigned this week, former CEO and president Steve Penny had been the only USA Gymnastics official held publicly accountable. He was forced to resign in March under pressure from the USOC.
And despite repeated calls from athletes to stop holding training camps at the Karolyi Ranch, where Nassar abused some of his victims, USA Gymnastics did not terminate its agreement until last Thursday. That was four days after Biles acknowledged she, too, had been abused by Nassar and said she was further traumatized at the thought of going back to the ranch.
The other conditions imposed by the USOC are:
--All USA Gymnastics staff and board members must complete SafeSport training offered by the U.S. Center for Safe Sport within three months.
--All staff and board members must complete a comprehensive ethics training unit within the next six months.
“USA Gymnastics completely embraces the requirements outlined in the (email),” USA Gymnastics said in a statement posted on its website. “We understand that the requirements imposed by the letter will help us enhance our ability to build a culture of empowerment throughout the organization, with an increased focus on athlete safety and well-being.”
Blackmun said the USOC’s own board has formed a working group, led by Susanne Lyons, to identify failings and ensure athletes are protected in the future from abusers like Nassar. That comes as Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Joni Ernst announced they will introduce a resolution to establish a select committee to investigate both the USOC and USA Gymnastics.
“This happened to over a hundred athletes over several decades, on the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics’ watch,” Ernst said in a statement. “A Select Committee dedicating its complete attention to USOC’s and USA Gymnastics’ role in this tragedy is imperative to holding the appropriate parties accountable and working to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Nassar became USA Gymnastics’ team physician in 1996, and has acknowledged abusing athletes under the guise of medical treatment. He was dismissed by the federation in July 2015, after a coach overheard athletes talking about the abusive procedure and became concerned.
But USA Gymnastics did not notify the FBI for five weeks, conducting its own investigation first. Even after it turned the case over to the FBI, it did not notify Michigan State or authorities in Michigan, despite knowing that Nassar was still working there.
The allegations against Nassar became public in August 2016, when Rachel Denhollander contacted the Indianapolis Star, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, and said she’d been abused by Nassar. That led to dozens more accusations, along with the revelation that athletes had reported Nassar to Michigan State as early as 1997.
Before Wednesday’s hearing, Nassar, 54, had already been sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges.
Follow Armour on Twitter @nrarmour and Axon @RachelAxon
