The Larry Nassar case was a very problematic case. This case dealt with a man who sexually abused, manipulated, and lied to young teenage women, along with their parents. These minors were touched inappropriately by Larry Nassar, but I would like to tell you who Larry Nassar (or how the world saw him) was before these cases became public.

Larry Nassar was a gymnast instructor, a really famous one at that. “Nassar had celebrity-like status in the elite gymnastics and sports medicine world. U.S.A gymnastics gave him countless awards. He was included into the Michigan State University’s hall of fame and governors appointed him to state licensing boards”(Newyorktimes, Jan 26, 2018). When he would sexually abuse his gymnasts that were under his care, he would do it under his role of USAG medical doctor. Larry Nassar would use a rare pelvic therapy that involved vaginal penetration. This was his way of sexually abusing young women.  In 2017, Larry Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography. Later in 2018, Larry Nassar pleaded guilty to seven cases of sexual misconduct, which led to 175 years in Michigan State Prison.  

Being a gymnast for 10 years really made me realize how unsafe the sport is in so many ways. When you are competing you are wearing a skin-tight leotard which barely covers your body, does not stay in place, and is uncomfortable. Leotards show all of your legs up until your pelvis and are a similar top style to a tank top. In the USA Gymnastics rules it states that you may not wear shorts, along with the fact that undergarments such as a bra or underwear cannot be shown. I do not have words to express how you feel when you are competing. Instead of worrying about if you compete well, you worry about if your body is being shown. In elite gymnastics you have thousands, most likely millions, of people staring at you for each routine for multiple hours. Your body is shown to the world whether you want it to be or not.

Larry Nassar abused hundreds of innocent women. He did not care where he was, what was wrong with them, why they were there, and mostly importantly, did not care who was in the room with him and the athletes. On multiple occasions he would sexually abuse the athletes while their parents were in the same room. He was highly trained, which led to more and more trust. When he performed his disgusting acts, he would often do it without gloves and convince the athletes that it was OK. The athletes were young, they were trained by the best of the best, they trusted their peers, they thought what he was doing helped them. In reality it was hurting them even more than they were already. Not to mention, Larry Nassar in some ways betrayed the Karolyis, along with the gymnasts.

The Karolyi Ranch, owned by Martha and Bela Karolyi, was a training facility for gymnastics. This place was supposed to be safe and fun for so many people, including the family members of the Karolyis. A place where they could connect with other people on many levels. Instead, at the Karolyi Ranch, athletes were shamed, screamed at, mentally abused, and sexually abused. The Karolyis were high level gymnastics coaches. In 1990, Bela Karolyi retired from coaching and in 2001 took the role as team USA gymnastics national coordinator. Since they took the role as coordinator, the USA Women's gymnastics team has taken 79 world and Olympic medals. In many ways, the Karolyis helped the U.S. team, although in other ways they destroyed how gymnastics was a good and safe place for so many people.

The worst part is the owners of the Karolyi Ranch did not care. They cared more about their reputation and not putting a bad name on themselves then helping sexual abuse survivors but left a worse name for themselves in the end. When the case became public and the Karolyis were accused of covering up Larry Nassar's abuse, later on after the allegations, the ranch shut down.

Gymnastics was once a safe place for so many people, and Larry Nassar ruined that for a lot of them. Now when you look at gymnastics, you look at how sexualized you get and how much of your body people see. When you are elite gymnasts, people care about you representing your place, but in reality, you should be representing yourself. People do not understand the toll that gymnastics puts on me. When you are such a high level athlete, your practice is non-stop. You will train for up to double digit hours a week, possibly a day. All of that work but still you are told, “You need to be better,” “Fix your form,” and “You need a different body. Stop eating.” Gymnasts are human, too. They go through things that people outside of their family do not know about. 

This sport is one of the most dangerous sports to exist. You are flying your body multiple feet in the air and landing on a floor that has little cushion. You are flipping yourself over and over. Your body goes through extreme stress because of the things you are doing. USA Gymnastics brought such a mental toll on so many people. Some will never be able to recover from the things that are told to them on a day-to-day basis. Gymnasts deserve better than what they have. USAG did not help keep their gymnasts healthy. The least we could do is support them through it no matter what.