Simone Biles.Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images
Simone Bilesis continuing to push for national gymnastics organizations to take accountability for their role in theLarry Nassar abuse scandal.
The gymnast, 24, was honored this week asTIME’s 2021 athlete of the year. In the accompanying profile, Biles addressed the “pain” she’s felt following Nassar’s sexual misconduct. (Biles was one ofdozens of womenwho’ve come forward to accuse the former doctor of sexual abuse.)
Biles, who is the only woman to accuse Nassar of abuse who is still competing in elite gymnastics today, has been vocal about the need for the USAG and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to take responsibility for their roles in the scandal.
Simone Biles.Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
“I definitely do think it had an effect,” she toldTIMEof publicly discussing the abuse over the past few years. “It’s a lot to put on one person. I feel like the guilt should be on them and should not be held over us. They should be feeling this [pain], not me.”
“At that point, it was no longer about medaling, but about getting back out there,” Biles toldTIME. “I wanted to compete at the Olympics again and have that experience that I came for. I didn’t really care about the outcome. On that beam, it was for me.”
Simone Biles.Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
source: people.com
