U.S.A. Gymnastics Under New Scrutiny as a Hiring Decision Goes Awry
By Juliet Macur
U.S.A. Gymnastics, which installed new leadership over the last year after a sexual abuse scandal involving hundreds of young athletes, is facing another possible overhaul after a hiring decision went awry this week.
The gymnastics federation on Friday asked for an official’s resignation only three days after naming her to an elite position. The choice of the official, a longtime coach named Mary Lee Tracy, became controversial because she had initially defended Lawrence G. Nassar, the former national team doctor who is serving a prison sentence of 40 to 175 years for multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct.
Hours after the federation’s call for Ms. Tracy’s resignation, the chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland, said that it was “time to consider making adjustments in the leadership” of U.S.A. Gymnastics.
“We’ve been following their activity, and as we close the day I’m afraid I can offer nothing but disappointment,” Ms. Hirshland, who became the head of the U.S.O.C. in July, said in a statement. “Under the circumstances, we feel that the organization is struggling to manage its obligations effectively and it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership.”
Ms. Hirshland said the U.S.O.C. had been in contact with the U.S.A. Gymnastics board to “offer our perspective, and also our assistance, as they manage the situation.” She added that she expected to have further discussions over the weekend.
The gymnastics federation, in its statement about the request for Ms. Tracy’s resignation, said she had acted “inappropriately” by contacting a gymnast, later identified as Aly Raisman, who is suing the organization over the Nassar case.
Ms. Raisman, a three-time Olympic champion, had spoken out on Twitter against the federation’s hiring of Ms. Tracy, who was the head coach of the 1996 Olympic women’s team, to be coordinator of U.S.A. Gymnastics’ elite development program for women.
“USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors and has shown no willingness to learn from the past,” Ms. Raisman wrote on Twitter.
In an email to The Times on Friday night, Ms. Tracy wrote: “It was in the spirit of healing and a desire to restore faith in a system that has failed the young women to whom I’ve dedicated my life, that I reached out to Aly Raisman. It pains me that it has been interpreted in any other way.”
John Manly, the lawyer for Ms. Raisman and many other athletes suing over Dr. Nassar’s abuse, said Ms. Raisman had “no knowledge that Mary Lee Tracy ever tried to contact her. She has no texts or phone calls, but maybe she reached out through social media and Aly didn’t see it. I can tell you no one has contacted my office to speak to her.”
In a 2016 television interview after Dr. Nassar had already been indicted on federal child pornography charges and after dozens of gymnasts had accused him of molestation, Ms. Tracy defended him as a doctor who had “helped so many kids in their careers” and “protected them.”
In her email, Ms. Tracy wrote, “Larry Nassar is a monster, a perpetrator of unthinkable crimes.”
She added: “If I had known of Nassar’s despicable behavior, I would have acted to protect our athletes. I deeply regret ever having defended him and the pain my 2016 remarks have caused the survivors.”
After the request for her resignation, she wrote on Facebook, “I was pressured to make a decision and I am seeking counsel!” Ms. Tracy has said that she had not been told to avoid contacting Ms. Raisman or others connected to the Nassar case.
But later, Ms. Tracy, who has coached more than two dozen national team members at her Cincinnati gym, wrote in her email: “My wish is to work with the USA Gymnastics Association in a collegial manner. I don’t have the desire or the resources to hire expensive lawyers and consultants.”
In the wake of the Nassar scandal, U.S.A. Gymnastics was forced to replace its board of directors, its president and other top officials. The new president, Kerry Perry, has testified in front of Congress about the organization’s resolve to empower athletes and to become a federation athletes can trust.
Sarah Mervosh and Matthew Futterman contributed reporting.
U.S.A. Gymnastics Under New Scrutiny as a Hiring Decision Goes Awry
By Juliet Macur
U.S.A. Gymnastics, which installed new leadership over the last year after a sexual abuse scandal involving hundreds of young athletes, is facing another possible overhaul after a hiring decision went awry this week.
The gymnastics federation on Friday asked for an official’s resignation only three days after naming her to an elite position. The choice of the official, a longtime coach named Mary Lee Tracy, became controversial because she had initially defended Lawrence G. Nassar, the former national team doctor who is serving a prison sentence of 40 to 175 years for multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct.
Hours after the federation’s call for Ms. Tracy’s resignation, the chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland, said that it was “time to consider making adjustments in the leadership” of U.S.A. Gymnastics.
“We’ve been following their activity, and as we close the day I’m afraid I can offer nothing but disappointment,” Ms. Hirshland, who became the head of the U.S.O.C. in July, said in a statement. “Under the circumstances, we feel that the organization is struggling to manage its obligations effectively and it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership.”
Ms. Hirshland said the U.S.O.C. had been in contact with the U.S.A. Gymnastics board to “offer our perspective, and also our assistance, as they manage the situation.” She added that she expected to have further discussions over the weekend.
The gymnastics federation, in its statement about the request for Ms. Tracy’s resignation, said she had acted “inappropriately” by contacting a gymnast, later identified as Aly Raisman, who is suing the organization over the Nassar case.
Ms. Raisman, a three-time Olympic champion, had spoken out on Twitter against the federation’s hiring of Ms. Tracy, who was the head coach of the 1996 Olympic women’s team, to be coordinator of U.S.A. Gymnastics’ elite development program for women.
“USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors and has shown no willingness to learn from the past,” Ms. Raisman wrote on Twitter.
In an email to The Times on Friday night, Ms. Tracy wrote: “It was in the spirit of healing and a desire to restore faith in a system that has failed the young women to whom I’ve dedicated my life, that I reached out to Aly Raisman. It pains me that it has been interpreted in any other way.”
John Manly, the lawyer for Ms. Raisman and many other athletes suing over Dr. Nassar’s abuse, said Ms. Raisman had “no knowledge that Mary Lee Tracy ever tried to contact her. She has no texts or phone calls, but maybe she reached out through social media and Aly didn’t see it. I can tell you no one has contacted my office to speak to her.”
In a 2016 television interview after Dr. Nassar had already been indicted on federal child pornography charges and after dozens of gymnasts had accused him of molestation, Ms. Tracy defended him as a doctor who had “helped so many kids in their careers” and “protected them.”
In her email, Ms. Tracy wrote, “Larry Nassar is a monster, a perpetrator of unthinkable crimes.”
She added: “If I had known of Nassar’s despicable behavior, I would have acted to protect our athletes. I deeply regret ever having defended him and the pain my 2016 remarks have caused the survivors.”
After the request for her resignation, she wrote on Facebook, “I was pressured to make a decision and I am seeking counsel!” Ms. Tracy has said that she had not been told to avoid contacting Ms. Raisman or others connected to the Nassar case.
But later, Ms. Tracy, who has coached more than two dozen national team members at her Cincinnati gym, wrote in her email: “My wish is to work with the USA Gymnastics Association in a collegial manner. I don’t have the desire or the resources to hire expensive lawyers and consultants.”
In the wake of the Nassar scandal, U.S.A. Gymnastics was forced to replace its board of directors, its president and other top officials. The new president, Kerry Perry, has testified in front of Congress about the organization’s resolve to empower athletes and to become a federation athletes can trust.
Sarah Mervosh and Matthew Futterman contributed reporting.
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