Category: parents

Marta’s letter to the Senate subcommittee

… My second recommendation is the implementation of USA Gymnastics-assigned chaperones.

Each gymnast should have a chaperone present with them at the national training camps and competitions.

While each gymnast was required to travel with their personal coach to the national training camps, a neutral chaperone, responsible solely for the safety and wellbeing of each gymnast, would help create a safe space for gymnasts to voice concerns outside of their athletic training.

This chaperone should also be required to accompany each gymnast on any medical treatments or sessions, whether formal or informal. A gymnast should never be alone with another adult who is not her parent without her chaperone …

read more – Karolyi letter to Senate

1. This letter was obviously written by lawyers

2. Marta was the last person at Camp who would have wanted chaperones attending

Secrecy and lack of transparency were a big part of the old Romanian system. It’s something Marta continued at her remote Camp.

(via BBS)

Kristle Lowell’s accusations of drug & sexual abuse

Kristle Lowell has been one of the top Trampoline & Tumbling competitors for team USA. She was the 2016 U.S. double mini champion. A 2013 World Champion.

Her accusations against Dr. George Drew, the former coach of the United States Double Mini Trampoline team, are horrifying. Kristle was an adult at the time, not a minor.

Drew retired June 2017. But the investigation into his conduct with Kristle and other athletes is ongoing.

Lauren Rosenberg worked with Kristle in writing up her story.

Former Team USA Trampoline Doctor Accused of Allegedly Drugging and Sexually Abusing Athletes

 

When asked about Lowell’s status, USA Gymnastics released the following statement:

Personnel and member matters are confidential, as well as any actions taken unless they involve a public result, such as suspension or being placed on the list of individuals who are permanently ineligible for membership. We decline to answer your specific questions due to ongoing investigatory matters and related allegations.

Happily Kristle is still training and competing.

https://twitter.com/Kristle__Lowell/status/1003047044620144640

SHAME – Congressional Hearings Edition

If you are trying to keep up with the evolving USAG scandal, be sure to listen to GymCastic episode 307. The first 80 minutes deals with Nassar fallout.

Steve Penny, Rhonda Faehn, and former MSU president Lou Anna Simon appeared in front of the Senate.

1. Penny took the Fifth.

2. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen called for changes in the U.S. Olympic Committee.

3. Gymnasts’ medical records were removed from the Karolyi Ranch.

4. Former USA Gymnastics official’s composure cracked during Senate testimony. (Rhonda Faehn)

5. At least 15 people knew but didn’t immediately report the 2015 allegations of inappropriate conduct against Nassar.

Indy Star – 5 takeaways from the U.S. Senate hearing about Larry Nassar

Despite denials from Kerry Perry, I’m still assuming USA Gymnastics will be forced to declare bankruptcy. They will be sued. Their liability insurers do not want to pay those many millions in damages.

Under Armour for LGBT Pride

Josh Dixon flying the colours.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.

For the second year in a row President Donald J. Trump has chosen to let gay ‘Pride Month’ slide by with no official recognition.

coach Richard Carlson permanently banned

A gymnastics coach accused of sexually abusing one of his athletes has been permanently banned, ending a case that had raised further questions about USA Gymnastics’ handling of misconduct complaints.

Richard Carlson was added to USA Gymnastics’ list of permanently ineligible members Friday. While no violation is specified, Marcia Frederick said he had abused her sexually in 1979 and 1980, beginning when she was 16. …

USA Gymnastics bans coach in case it elected to keep rather than turning over to SafeSport

Carlson continued to coach young female gymnasts in the Long Island area until at least 2015 and instruct at USA Gymnastics-sanctioned clinics for promising young female athletes until at least 2012, according to USA Gymnastics reports and interviews.

Carlson has denied any wrong doing in the Frederick case. …

USA Gymnastics bans Richard Carlson

Still, there are more questions than answers on this case.

physique of Artistic female gymnasts

An analysis of 407 papers.

Most studies identified similar physiques based on: physical traits (small size and low body mass), a body type (predominance of ecto-mesomorphy), body composition (low fat mass), and maturity status (late skeletal maturity as well as late age-at-menarche).

However, there was no consensus as to whether these features predicted competitive performance, or even differentiated between gymnasts within distinctive competitive levels. …

The Physique of Elite Female Artistic Gymnasts: A Systematic Review (2017)

by Sarita Bacciotti, Adam Baxter-Jones, Adroaldo Gaya, and José Maia

Steve Penny, Lou Anna Simon to testify before Senate

Subpoenas were being served Tuesday afternoon on former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny and former Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon to compel them to testify before a Senate subcommittee June 5 about failures to protect Olympic athletes from sexual abuse, a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY Sports.

Former USA Gymnastics women’s program director Rhonda Faehn accepted an invitation and was not subpoenaed, according to the person.

All three, along with former USA Gymnastics national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, had been invited by the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security at a hearing scheduled for May 22, according to the person. It was postponed when some of those who were invited did not agree to testify. Citing medical reasons, Karolyi did not accept the invitation, the person said. …

Rachel Axon and Christine Brennan

Gym owner charged with failing to report child abuse

Club owners and parent Board of Directors should know their legal and ethical obligations.

Parents went to this owner with allegations. She didn’t report her coach.

Prosecutors … charged 47-year-old Piper Hoemann with one misdemeanor count of failure of a mandated reporter to report child abuse or neglect. Hoemann owned Kids In Motion Gym in the 2000 block of Highway A in Washington, Mo. before it closed earlier this year.

In February, volunteer gymnastics coach David Schneider was charged with three counts of molestation. …

KMOV

USAG is guilty

I don’t see how you can conclude anything else after hearing about this cover-up.

… the Indianapolis Star reports that while USA Gymnastics was sorting out what to do with Nassar, it was simultaneous helping the doctor create a cover story for his absence.

After Nichols made her report, Nassar was removed from contact with the national team. …

Rather than go with the truth—namely, telling people that Nassar was under investigation for child sexual abuse—or simply saying nothing at all, USA Gymnastics agreed to help Nassar offer a respectable excuse for his absence at gymnastics events in 2015. …

Report: USA Gymnastics Helped Cover For Larry Nassar’s Absences During Investigation