Olympian Shawn Johnson Says USA Gymnastics Fails Young Athletes

NASHVILLE, TN — Retired Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson East said Monday gymnastics “is the best sport in the world,” but if she had a daughter, she “wouldn’t put her in” the USA Gymnastics program because of the governing body’s poor handling of sexual abuse complaints about former team doctor Larry Nassar, who has heard scalding testimony from more than 140 women in a Michigan courtroom over the past week.

Johnson, who won a gold medal on the balance beam and silver medals for her all-around and floor exercise performances in the 2008 Olympics, offered a searing critique of the organization in a video posted on her YouTube channel Monday. She is the latest elite gymnast to blister USA Gymnastics, saying she is “terribly angry” that leaders of the organization “failed their athletes.”

She opened the video with praise gymnasts who have given statements in Nassar’s sentencing hearing. Nassar, who is already serving a 60-year sentence on federal pornography charges, pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and faces an additional 40 years in prison when he is sentenced at the conclusion of the hearing in Ingham County, Michigan. He will be sentenced Jan. 31 on three similar charges in nearby Eaton County, and he also faces a spate of civil lawsuits.

Johnson, who trained at a gym in her hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, did not accuse Nassar of molesting her, but said she stands with other gymnasts who have. They include 2012 Olympians McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber, and 2000 Olympian Jamie Dantzscher, the first Olympian to go public against Nassar, who all testified at Nassar's sentencing hearing. Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles, the stars of the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, also have said Nassar molested them.

Johnson posted the emotional video the same day USA Gymnastics announced its top leaders had resigned. The organization’s president, Kerry Perry, said in a statement their resignations “will allow us to more effectively move forward in implementing change within our organization.”

Johnson said that may not be enough, and she pledged to be involved in the reform process.

“Knowing that USA Gymnastics has failed their athletes so terribly disappoints me and makes me so incredibly angry. I think the fact that any of this has ever happened shows that USA Gymnastics has failed as a governing body to protect the athletes that it supports and claims to care about. ... The fact that a system that is supposed to protect children has failed them so bad is so wrong. ...

“If you want to gain the trust of the world — if you want to gain the trust from coaches and from parents and make little girls feel comfortable again — you need to change the system completely. I think USA Gymnastics for a very, very long time has focused on nothing but winning gold medals, that they have overlooked the simple and most important fact that the people they are dealing with are minors and are children and do not have the capabilities to stand up for themselves or to speak for themselves. And when these little girls have devoted their entire lives to one dream, and they feel scared to voice something that has gone wrong because they feel that that dream could be compromised, is disgusting. I think, as it pertains to USA Gymnastics, every single procedure, rule, guideline, rulebook you’ve ever made needs to be thrown out the window and redone.

“I think gymnastics is the best sport in the entire world, but if I had a daughter right now, I wouldn’t put her in it, and it makes me really sad. Because I can’t even trust USA Gymnastics. I’ve talked to other athletes and gymnasts that are part of USA Gymnastics who have daughters, and it’s just like, the organization I have trusted my entire life has failed miserably, and I don’t know how to fix it, except for start over. Start over completely. Until we protect these little girls as human beings, instead of protecting them as gymnasts just to make sure they win gold medals, we aren’t going to make any progress that’s meaningful.”

She closed the video: “If you have ever experienced anything like this, if you anybody has ever violated you, violated your trust, I know it’s probably the most terrifying thing in the world, but you need to speak up, not just for yourself but to protect others involved, and know that there are people around you that love you and want to protect you. If you need anyone to talk to or you don’t have someone to talk to , we are here. …

“Some very strong, powerful voices are leading the change for USA Gymnastics. I will stand with them to see a change … to protect those that are currently involved, have been involved or will be involved in the future. …

“We desperately need change, we need to rewrite the book and we need to make sure that this never happens again.”

Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP