I cannot find the words to express my thoughts and feelings about the Nassar tragedy. We are an international community of people motivated by a love for gymnastics. In the main, young people are the only ones with the energy, skill and daring to be able to compete. These young people are completely reliant on elders to train safely, to progress healthily and to be happy. The betrayal when this all goes wrong is total and inexcusable. To think that there is even one person exists who sees this reliance as an opportunity to hurt and repress individuals for the sake of their own pleasure - it is evil. J K Rowling's Death Eaters, the Dementors of Harry Potter, have nothing on Nassar and his depraved, selfish pursuit of power. The horror is complete.
I have awoken to the scale of this horror terribly slowly, as if incapable of distinguishing life from nightmare. I am removed from the everyday reality of these awful experiences, yet they keep me awake at night. For the survivors, it is a grief, and it is beyond grief. We experience grief and live with grief as a way of saying goodbye to those we loved and love. The survivors, their families and friends, have to live with this grief every day. We who support them have to help this terror to move beyond grief, but there will always be grief for those who were robbed of their childhood, their innocence, the joy they expressed in their talent. It may grow a little smaller with time, but it will always be there.
As Simone said in her statement, so eloquent, direct and honest, she must find a way of living and being happy. That must seem a long way away, though. It must at least be a small relief to see that USA Gymnastics has finally taken some action, and closed The Ranch as national training centre. In my view, its associations and history are such that it should be demolished.
What has happened is not just about gymnastics or sport; it is, as McKayla said, about predators who gather on the doorstep, wherever there are young and vulnerable people. Athletes are particularly vulnerable not just because they begin training at a young age, but also because they have a dependence on advisors and others who tend to be in a position of power over them, and who can use favouritism and politics to disfavour and discredit the athlete, however great their talents, effort and joy. To this extent, sport needs to take a lead in creating change and a healthier balance of power. As Jessica on Gymcastic has said, in reality the athletes have all the power in the Nassar case. But that power has taken years and decades to build. Can we only listen to our athletes or give them the power of veto if they are legends, gold medal winners and champions?
The Nassar case is unique in scale if not, sadly, in nature. A coach who systematically abused young footballers is currently under investigation in the UK. We remember the allegations made by Eberle, Dunca and others in Romanian gymnastics of the treatment they experienced at the hands of the Karolyis and others back in the 70s and 80s. There are parallels with the various doping scandals of which we are aware. East German athletes were fed unnamed 'medicines'. Many young athletes will simply take whatever their coach or doctor gives them and tells them to take; the athlete pays for the infringement legally, physically and mentally, but may not always be the guilty one. Athlete doping is therefore often abuse.
Is sport worth it at all? If what is supposed to be a joyful expression of commitment, talent, health and playful competition becomes a playground where only the evil play, should we continue? But that would be to give darkness the higher ground. We must find a way of reclaiming sport, and make things better. Is it too early to begin to speak of next steps and learning? Instead of stepping deeper into the inferno, we have to try to lift the situation into daylight and begin to build something better and new, or Nassar will have won.
Blame and responsibility are two concepts that are regularly aired in angry fan communications. In going beyond grief, we have to separate the two, and be clear what we mean. Blame is a backward looking, angry idea. We seek someone to blame to vent our anger, to emphasise and reassure ourselves that we are not to blame. Blame involves seeing the problem from a black and white perspective, I-am-right-you-are-wrong. And, of course, in this case, it is hard to escape the fact that Nassar was to blame for his own actions. Nassar will have to live with his wrongdoing for the rest of his life.
But it would be wrong for the rest of us to be stuck in blame forever. Blame is about the externally driven energy of sticking something nasty on somebody. The process and pain of establishing that blame has been formalised in court and legal proceedings. Next, though, responsibility is in the internally driven energy to acknowledge fault and put things right. Responsibility is something discouraged in a context where liability and financial pain are often involved, but morally and ethically, responsibility is needed next. Somebody, somewhere, has to begin to take responsibility, or all will be lost. Who?
Listen to our very own Gymcastic, from start to finish, to follow the evidence and arguments as they emerge. USA Gymnastics' refusal to take the case seriously and to acknowledge their responsibility shaped Nassar's opportunities to abuse and hurt, delivered victims to his doorstep. Did you know he was not even properly qualified to practice in Texas? That he worked for the USAG in a voluntary, unpaid capacity? The girls he was abusing were not even receiving proper treatment for their injuries. This is thanks to the USAG's negligence, obfuscation and dissembling. USAG refused to believe complaints against Nassar, increasing the pain of his victims, but also they had not completed even the most basic checks thoroughly. The US Olympic Committee also has responsibility to check the credentials of all national team doctors, but failed to find Nassar out.
I have read that what has been uncovered in the Nassar case is a paedophile ring supported at the very highest levels of US sport. This seems like a crazy conspiracy theory. But if it isn't so - if USAG and the USOC weren't deliberately working towards a strategic plan of child and athlete abuse - then at the very least they are guilty of terrible, unbelievable, complete incompetence. Everyone involved should be removed from their positions of power and be investigated for criminal negligence at best.
Sport as a world community has to investigate this case and to learn from it. This is an international, pan-social issue that affects more than just the USA, gymnastics, and the Olympics. At a time that pays the correct respect to the survivors, there needs to be a call to action. An international working party needs to be convened, including the FIG, IOC, USAG, USOC, the relevant medical commissions and child protection authorities – perhaps even UNESCO - to investigate the bigger picture. We need to learn lessons and to change our practice to ensure that youngsters are granted the right power, and are protected to pursue their lives safely. The gymnasts involved in this case have been unspeakably brave. Going forward, we all have to look beyond grief. We have to find a way of making sense, of being better, of creating a greater light to outshine the darkness and shadow.
I have awoken to the scale of this horror terribly slowly, as if incapable of distinguishing life from nightmare. I am removed from the everyday reality of these awful experiences, yet they keep me awake at night. For the survivors, it is a grief, and it is beyond grief. We experience grief and live with grief as a way of saying goodbye to those we loved and love. The survivors, their families and friends, have to live with this grief every day. We who support them have to help this terror to move beyond grief, but there will always be grief for those who were robbed of their childhood, their innocence, the joy they expressed in their talent. It may grow a little smaller with time, but it will always be there.
As Simone said in her statement, so eloquent, direct and honest, she must find a way of living and being happy. That must seem a long way away, though. It must at least be a small relief to see that USA Gymnastics has finally taken some action, and closed The Ranch as national training centre. In my view, its associations and history are such that it should be demolished.
What has happened is not just about gymnastics or sport; it is, as McKayla said, about predators who gather on the doorstep, wherever there are young and vulnerable people. Athletes are particularly vulnerable not just because they begin training at a young age, but also because they have a dependence on advisors and others who tend to be in a position of power over them, and who can use favouritism and politics to disfavour and discredit the athlete, however great their talents, effort and joy. To this extent, sport needs to take a lead in creating change and a healthier balance of power. As Jessica on Gymcastic has said, in reality the athletes have all the power in the Nassar case. But that power has taken years and decades to build. Can we only listen to our athletes or give them the power of veto if they are legends, gold medal winners and champions?
The Nassar case is unique in scale if not, sadly, in nature. A coach who systematically abused young footballers is currently under investigation in the UK. We remember the allegations made by Eberle, Dunca and others in Romanian gymnastics of the treatment they experienced at the hands of the Karolyis and others back in the 70s and 80s. There are parallels with the various doping scandals of which we are aware. East German athletes were fed unnamed 'medicines'. Many young athletes will simply take whatever their coach or doctor gives them and tells them to take; the athlete pays for the infringement legally, physically and mentally, but may not always be the guilty one. Athlete doping is therefore often abuse.
Is sport worth it at all? If what is supposed to be a joyful expression of commitment, talent, health and playful competition becomes a playground where only the evil play, should we continue? But that would be to give darkness the higher ground. We must find a way of reclaiming sport, and make things better. Is it too early to begin to speak of next steps and learning? Instead of stepping deeper into the inferno, we have to try to lift the situation into daylight and begin to build something better and new, or Nassar will have won.
Blame and responsibility are two concepts that are regularly aired in angry fan communications. In going beyond grief, we have to separate the two, and be clear what we mean. Blame is a backward looking, angry idea. We seek someone to blame to vent our anger, to emphasise and reassure ourselves that we are not to blame. Blame involves seeing the problem from a black and white perspective, I-am-right-you-are-wrong. And, of course, in this case, it is hard to escape the fact that Nassar was to blame for his own actions. Nassar will have to live with his wrongdoing for the rest of his life.
But it would be wrong for the rest of us to be stuck in blame forever. Blame is about the externally driven energy of sticking something nasty on somebody. The process and pain of establishing that blame has been formalised in court and legal proceedings. Next, though, responsibility is in the internally driven energy to acknowledge fault and put things right. Responsibility is something discouraged in a context where liability and financial pain are often involved, but morally and ethically, responsibility is needed next. Somebody, somewhere, has to begin to take responsibility, or all will be lost. Who?
Listen to our very own Gymcastic, from start to finish, to follow the evidence and arguments as they emerge. USA Gymnastics' refusal to take the case seriously and to acknowledge their responsibility shaped Nassar's opportunities to abuse and hurt, delivered victims to his doorstep. Did you know he was not even properly qualified to practice in Texas? That he worked for the USAG in a voluntary, unpaid capacity? The girls he was abusing were not even receiving proper treatment for their injuries. This is thanks to the USAG's negligence, obfuscation and dissembling. USAG refused to believe complaints against Nassar, increasing the pain of his victims, but also they had not completed even the most basic checks thoroughly. The US Olympic Committee also has responsibility to check the credentials of all national team doctors, but failed to find Nassar out.
I have read that what has been uncovered in the Nassar case is a paedophile ring supported at the very highest levels of US sport. This seems like a crazy conspiracy theory. But if it isn't so - if USAG and the USOC weren't deliberately working towards a strategic plan of child and athlete abuse - then at the very least they are guilty of terrible, unbelievable, complete incompetence. Everyone involved should be removed from their positions of power and be investigated for criminal negligence at best.
Sport as a world community has to investigate this case and to learn from it. This is an international, pan-social issue that affects more than just the USA, gymnastics, and the Olympics. At a time that pays the correct respect to the survivors, there needs to be a call to action. An international working party needs to be convened, including the FIG, IOC, USAG, USOC, the relevant medical commissions and child protection authorities – perhaps even UNESCO - to investigate the bigger picture. We need to learn lessons and to change our practice to ensure that youngsters are granted the right power, and are protected to pursue their lives safely. The gymnasts involved in this case have been unspeakably brave. Going forward, we all have to look beyond grief. We have to find a way of making sense, of being better, of creating a greater light to outshine the darkness and shadow.