USOC officials were made aware of allegations against Nassar as early as September '15GETTY IMAGES
The self-commissioned USOC report investigating the organization's handling of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal found that top organization officials for years "concealed their early knowledge of sexual-abuse allegations" against the former USA Gymnastics team doctor and "took no steps to alert or protect potential victims," according to O'Brien & Bachman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The fallout following the release of yesterday's "scathing report" conducted by law firm Ropes & Gray "was swift," as the USOC fired Chief of Sports Performance Alan Ashley for his failure to respond to claims of sexual abuse (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/11). ESPN.com's Dan Murphy notes the report said that a "confluence of factors 'from casual disregard to affirmative inaction, from cultural conditions to governance choices, from inadequate policies and procedures to the risk of sexual abuse in sport' created an environment in which Nassar and other sexual predators flourished." The findings indicated that the USOC's "hands-off approach to patrolling the national governing bodies it oversees created a culture in which other priorities took precedence over athletes' needs and their input" (ESPN.com, 12/11). In California, Scott Reid notes the report "revealed just how completely" USAG, the USOC, Michigan State and "several law enforcement agencies including the FBI have failed" in protecting their athletes. The report is the "most complete portrait to date of the biggest sex abuse scandal in American sports history" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/11).
STARTED AT THE TOP: USA TODAY's Christine Brennan in a front-page piece notes the report said that after then-USAG CEO Steve Penny in September '15 "made a request for the USOC to get involved and help with the reporting to law enforcement of Nassar’s alleged abuse," then-USOC CEO Scott Blackmun "declined on behalf of the organization" (USA TODAY, 12/11). In L.A., David Wharton notes the report provided "new insight" into the USOC’s role in the Nassar scandal, and criticized the organization for "participating in a culture that 'facilitated' the crimes and willfully ignored warning signs" (L.A. TIMES, 12/11). YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote the USOC "can no longer attempt to distance itself" from the Nassar scandal, as its "finger prints are all over it, leading directly to the top of the vaunted organization." The "devastating and comprehensive independent investigative report" showed it "wasn’t just personal failures by Blackmun and Ashley, it was systematic" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/10). In Colorado Springs, Roeder & Earls in a front-page piece note critics of the USOC "hailed the report as a step toward transparency" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 12/11). In Houston, David Barron notes the report was also "strongly critical of the culture created by longtime coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi, saying that the atmosphere" at the couple's Walker County ranch gave Nassar "'broad latitude' to abuse young gymnasts" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/11).
FALL FROM GRACE: USA TODAY's Brennan writes the story the report "tells about two of the nation’s top international sports leaders" in Blackmun and Ashley is "devastating." Both men now "will forever be known for their atrocious decision to remain silent as Nassar continued to molest young gymnasts." Their "once-illustrious careers are now cloaked in disgrace" (USA TODAY, 12/11). The AP's Eddie Pells writes the report was "every bit as thorough as it was cringe-worthy." However, when it was "all picked apart and combed through, there wasn't much new there." Neither the USOC, nor USAG, nor Congress "have come up with any ideas comprehensive enough -- beyond firing everyone and blowing up organizations -- to turn this ship around" (AP, 12/11).
NO COMMENT: The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER's Reid notes Bela and Martha Karolyi, former USAG employees Deborah Van Horn and Gary Warren, USAG attorneys Scott Himsel and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick, and former FBI special agent W. Jay Abbott "declined to be interviewed by Ropes & Gray" for the report (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/11).
TWITTER REAX: Olympic reporter Philip Hersh tweeted in firing Ashley, the USOC is "finally acting with alacrity about horrible Nassar abuse in aftermath of damning report." Author Dani Bostick: "Abuse in the Olympic Movement did not begin and end with Larry Nassar. The USOC has created a culture where image & profit are a bigger priorities than the well being of child athletes. This is not a Nassar problem. It is a USOC problem." Michigan Public Radio's Kate Wells: "It is hard to overstate how damning these findings are. They lay, in part, Nassar's ability to abuse so many, directly at the feet of the USOC and the USAG." Science writer Roger Pielke Jr.: "What does USOC care about? Not athletes, but 'money and medals.'" Mental health expert Jeffrey Guterman tweeted the report "details a toxic pattern of bureaucratic paralysis among Olympic leaders." USA Today's Rachel Axon noted the USOC "paid Ashley $720,000 in 2017, making him the organization’s second highest paid employee besides Blackmun."
