Category: safety

FIG responds on athlete safety

FIG President Morinari Watanabe:

FIG’s action will be built on three pillars.

The first pillar is to establish a safeguarding commission within the FIG to provide educational material for our national member federations. …

The second pillar is the involvement of our Athletes’ Commission ….

The third pillar is to establish an independent body to which any abuse case can be reported. This will include a helpdesk and the provision of legal support. We are aiming to announce this independent body once the FIG Authorities have approved the governance structure. …

Statement from FIG President Morinari Watanabe regarding US abuse cases

ABC TV – Nassar victims

I don’t think much would have changed without the victim statements.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – USA Gymnastics Creates Athlete Assistance Fund

Click through to make a donation.

in defence of Valeri Liukin

It’s probably easier for Gymnastics in the USA to start from scratch. Replace everyone who had any position of responsibility while Nassar was committing his crimes.

I understand it’s easier, too, for Valeri to resign. Otherwise there would be lingering doubt

Some of the coaches who know Valeri extremely well, however, are thanking him for what he’s done for the National Team program.

Read Tom Forster’s comments on Facebook.

Read Mary Lee Tracy’s comments on Facebook.

Who should replace Valeri?

My vote would be K.J. Kindler. But I doubt she would be interested in leaving Oklahoma.

 

Elite to NCAA … a catharsis

Will Graves:

… Kondos Field has long felt that college gymnastics offers “psychological rehab” for former elite gymnasts who spent their teenage years buried in the gym for 30-plus hours a week, a physical and mental grind that can leave some broken in body or spirit by the time they reach college.

That’s where UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi found herself when she arrived on campus in 2015. Once one of the top juniors in the country, Ohashi’s senior elite career was derailed by injuries and struggles with body image that followed her to Los Angeles. …

College gymnastics offers catharsis in wake of Nassar furor

MSU gymnasts moving forward

Sydney Ewing:

Ewing made the trip from Texas to watch the Spartans compete and to visit campus again with her father, Steve Ewing, who insisted he has no fear of sending his daughter to Michigan State to be a gymnast and student.

“I’m not scared,” he said. “This is going to be the cleanest, safest program in the country. It’s going to be squeaky clean …

WaPo – Michigan State gymnastics team tries to move on from Nassar

Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act

Only 3 congressmen voted against this bill.

  • Justin Amash, Michigan’s 3rd congressional district
  • Thomas Massie, Kentucky’s 4th congressional district
  • Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s 1st congressional district

A terrible idea, you would think. What happens when a young victim from their district is abused? How do they then respond to their voters?

Amash explains why he voted against.

why was the FBI so slow investigating Nassar?

The New York Times has identified at least 40 girls and women who say that Dr. Nassar molested them between July 2015, when he first fell under F.B.I. scrutiny, and September 2016, when he was exposed by an Indianapolis Star investigation.

Some are among the youngest of the now-convicted predator’s many accusers — 265, and counting. …

As F.B.I. Took a Year to Pursue the Nassar Case, Dozens Say They Were Molested

What were USAG and MSU doing over those months?

What was the medical profession doing?

Together We Rise – UCLA & Oklahoma

An emotional montage by Deanna Hong.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

Who cares who won the dual meet. These teams are both winners.

related – watch the video being presented at UCLA

Facebook page – Thank You to my Gymnastics Coach

@Thankscoach

Amanda Turner:

As the gymnastics community struggles to pick up the pieces following the Larry Nassar tragedy — which revealed allegations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse by gymnastics coaches — a grassroots movement has begun to reshape the sport and its image. Coach and educator Tony Retrosi says it’s time to recognize the tremendous work of the amazing gymnastics coaches who have influenced so many athletes in a healthy and positive way.

Retrosi, the head coach and owner of Atlantic Gymnastics Training Centers, started the “Thank You to my Gymnastics Coach” page on Facebook (Facebook.com/Thankscoach), because he wants to remind the public that the majority of gymnastics coaches shouldn’t be lumped in with the kind who make headlines for harming athletes. …

Retrosi: It’s Time to Say #ThanksCoach

With the criminal doctor going to prison for life, and the systems that supported him for decades under investigation, I’m hopeful that we can finally start looking at all the good done by Gymnastics coaches around the world.

I’m very thankful for my coaches from 50 years ago. They helped shape the person I am today.

USA Gymnastics – real change

Most were convinced that USAG was unable / unwilling to make real changes. Until recently.

This is significant.

Nancy Armour:

Gymnasts will be required to be chaperoned by someone other than their coaches at four upcoming events …

“Each athlete will be required to have a chaperone with them, other than their coach,” Faehn wrote. “This individual can be a parent or guardian, a grandparent, another relative, etc. Each athlete and coach will be responsible for setting up their own arrangements ie. flight and hotel.”

Athletes selected for the international World Cups also will be required to bring a chaperones, though USA Gymnastics will cover their flight and hotel expenses.

“If a parent or designated guardian is not able to attend, USA Gymnastics will provide a safe sport certified female chaperone,” Faehn wrote.

The inability of parents or other chaperones to travel with their daughters was among the many criticisms leveled at USA Gymnastics by gymnasts abused by Nassar. …

USA Today

USA will not be sending gymnasts to Jesolo or Gymnix in 2018.