Gold Medalist Aly Raisman: Team Doc Abused Me, Too

Gymnast says she's 'angry' and 'upset' about Larry Nassar's sexual transgressions against her
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2017 10:47 AM CST
Gold Medalist Aly Raisman: Team Doc Abused Me, Too
In this Aug. 11, 2016, file photo, Aly Raisman rests during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Another Olympic gold-medal gymnast has joined former teammate McKayla Maroney in the #MeToo movement, alleging in a 60 Minutes interview to air Sunday that USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar also sexually abused her, USA Today reports. Per ESPN, Aly Raisman, who's now 23, started seeing Nassar when she was 15. Raisman, who says she's "angry" and "really upset" about what happened to her and others, originally addressed in August the many accusations against Nassar, but at the time she didn't get into her own history with Nassar. She said then that she preferred to shine the spotlight on the overall scandal and to get more people "to talk about it." Per the Lansing State Journal, more than 140 women and girls have filed suits related to his alleged sexual misconduct, with nearly as many reporting him to the cops.

Now, however, Raisman is talking about her own experience, telling 60 Minutes: "I just want to create change" so other young girls "never, ever have to go through this." She says she met with the FBI after the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Nassar, who was USA Gymnastics' team doctor for almost two decades, was fired in 2015 and is facing nearly two dozen sexual assault charges against him; he's also set to be sentenced next month on three federal child pornography charges. The multiple lawsuits involving accusations against Nassar name as defendants USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University (where he worked as a doctor for decades), and Nassar himself, among others. Via a statement to 60 Minutes, USA Gymnastics said it was "very sorry that any athlete has been harmed" and that "we want to work with Aly and all interested athletes to keep athletes safe." (More Aly Raisman stories.)

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