(ATR) Aly Raisman says a proposed settlement from USA Gymnastics over a massive sex abuse scandal fails to hold sports leaders accountable.
The gold medal gymnast is one of hundreds of victims who have sued the NGB and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee over the abuse they suffered under the guise of treatment by team doctor Larry Nassar. Nassar is in prison with consecutive sentences lasting 150 years.
Raisman is one of the most outspoken of the Nassar victims. This week on the NBC Today program she took aim at the $215 million settlement offered by USA Gymnastics to 517 victims. The settlement would block subsequent legal action against leaders of USAG or the USOPC,
"It's honestly offensive," Raisman tells The Today Show. "It shows they don't care. They're just trying to push it under the rug and hoping people will forget about it when they watch the Olympics this summer.''
"We did our job, we worked really hard. We did the best that we could. We won gold medals for Team USA, and we're asking them to work really hard and do the right thing by us. We don't feel the same effort from them," she said,
The settlement releases former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny, former coaches Martha and Béla Károlyi, and other U.S. Olympic officials from liability.
The settlement also releases USA Gymnastics from disclosing who knew about Nassar and when they learned of it.
Former teammate Simone Biles along with Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to go public with abuse accusations, have expressed outrage on Twitter regarding the settlement.
"I'm with you Simone. Your character and courage is far above the leadership of either organization." Denhollander also added "Sponsors of these organizations need to know that the worst thing they can do for survivors, athletes and the next generation, is to keep these broken organizations alive."
On her Twitter feed, Raisman says disclosure is needed.
"The problem is USAG & USOC don’t want anyone to know. This is a massive cover up. The only way for anyone to know what really happened is if someone forces them to release ALL documents & data to investigate. HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN?," she asks.
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Reported by Greer Wilson
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