Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman tweeted her displeasure over USA Gymnastics hiring of Mary Bono as its interim president and chief executive. Mary Bono is a former congresswoman and previously held a role at the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels.
In her tweets, Raisman noted, "My teammates & I reported [Larry] Nassar’s abuse to USAG (USA Gymnastics) in 2015. We now know USOC (United States Olympic Committee) & lawyers at Faegre Baker Daniels were also told then. . . ." After the reporting, action to prevent the further and continued abuse by Larry Nassar was not taken for another 13 months. Raisman makes clear that she does not believe someone who potentially knew of the Larry Nassar allegations and did not act on them should be leading USAG. Raisman is calling for better accountability and a culture change at USAG, because “survivors, current gymnasts, families, coaches, gymnastics community & fans deserve better”. If Bono in fact knew of the Nassar allegations, USAG's decision to hire Bono would be both surprising and obviously offensive to USAG athletes, particularly in this era of accountability.
This article was written with contributions from Tim Piscatelli.
