Gymnasts attack 'culture' of US Olympic Committee
343 views · Published 17 December 2018 · 3:18 · Indexed 10 November 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(12 Dec 2018) An independent report details a toxic pattern of bureaucratic paralysis among Olympic leaders who reacted slowly, if at all, after they knew Larry Nassar was suspected of molesting young gymnasts. From the top office at the U.S. Olympic Committee to FBI bureaus in three cities to what was essentially an unchecked, rogue operation at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas, nobody stepped in quickly enough to stifle Nassar's crimes, the report concludes. That delay ultimately gave Nassar more than a full year to abuse athletes after the first allegations surfaced. The USOC swiftly fired sports performance chief Alan Ashley in the wake of Monday's release of the 233-page report from the law firm Ropes & Gray. One of its conclusions was that neither Ashley nor Scott Blackmun, who resigned in February as CEO of the USOC, elevated concerns about alleged abuse when they first learned of them from USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny in July 2015. And an email from Penny notifying Blackmun and Ashley of Nassar's decision to step down from his volunteer position at USAG in September 2015 — after allegations had surfaced but before they'd become widely known — was deleted from both executives' accounts. The report suggests Blackmun was fearful his email system may have been vulnerable to Russian hacking. The report says the USOC, USAG, Michigan State and the FBI all failed to protect athletes. The failures led to a 14-month period — July 2015 to September 2016 — during which Nassar, while still employed at Michigan State, continued to molest young women. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/da53eca02d8ee63181e9afca6462a6aa
