Section:GDN 1N PaGe:41 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 14/8/2019 19:04 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
41Height of dignity
Biles continues
to redefi ne brilliance
in a sport that failed
her so shamefully
O
n Sunday night Simone Biles, on
her way to securing her sixth U S
gymnastics title , performed a triple-
double in her fl oor routine, one of
two moves she executed during
the contest that ha d never been
accomplished before in women’s
competition gymnastics. Have you
seen it? You honestly have to see it, and then see it again
in slow motion. I haven’t spoken to any physicists on the
matter but, as someone who watched the move multiple
times on my phone while eating a packet of crisps, I can
assure you: she defi ed gravity.
Biles fi nished an astonishing 4.95 points ahead of her
nearest competitor but remains markedly perfectionist,
even in the hour of historic victory, refl ecting: “It wasn’t
as good as in some of the trainings.”
That she pulled off such feats at all has been hailed
as “historic” for her sport; that she accomplished
them amid the far-from-resolved fallout of the Larry
Nassar sexual abuse scandal is somehow even more
extraordinary and indicative of the vast extremes of
light and shade that have characterised US gymnastics
since gymnasts fi rst reported concerns about the team
doctor’s behaviour. Extremely belatedly these were
acted on and Nassar is now serving life imprisonment.
The story remains the biggest court-proven sexual abuse
scandal in the history of sport.
“I think we’re very good at compartmentalising
things,” Biles said at the time of Nassar’s sentencing, in
January 2018. But even four days before her astonishing
victory last weekend she had wept during a press
conference at the competition when discussing the
handling of the scandal by the governing body that, even
now, she must reluctantly represent.“I don’t mean to cry,” Biles told reporters. “But it’s hard
coming here for an organi sation having had them fail
us so many times. And we had one goal and we’ve done
everything that they’ve asked us for, even when we didn’t
want to, and they couldn’t do one damn job. You had one
job. You literally had one job and you couldn’t protect us.”B
y way of a recap Nassar was accused
of molesting more than 260 athletes
under his care (he was also a doctor
for Michigan State University). 144
of them testifi ed at his trial, many of
them making extraordinary impact
statements face-to-face with him in the
courtroom. “Little girls don’t stay little
for ever,” one declared. “They grow into strong women
that return to destroy your world.”
Some were unable to testify. Donna Markham spoke
on behalf of her daughter Chelsea, who began seeing
Nassar after picking up an injury at the age of 10. The
abuse that followed precipitated a spiral of despair
that ended with Chelsea taking her own life when she
was 23.
The most widely publicised testimony came from
Biles’s former teammate Aly Raisman, who stared down
Nassar in the courtroom and declared: “Over those 30
years when survivors came forward, adult after adult –
many in positions of authority – protected you, telling
each survivor it was OK, that you weren’t abusing them.
In fact, many adults had you convince the survivors that
they were being dramatic or had been mistaken. This is
like being violated all over again.” She declined to speak
optimistically about the future. “It’s clear now,” she
stated, “that, if we leave it up to these organisations ,
history is likely to repeat itself.”
And yet, to most intents and purposes, the task
of rebuilding for the athletes has been left up to
those institutions. Despite attempts to take the
moral high ground the US Olympic C ommittee is
deeply compromised on the Nassar scandal, with a
congressional report a fortnight ago including it in a
series of institutions that failed to protect child and
young adult athletes from Nassar in a way that was “ a
cover-up in spirit ... whether it was a criminal cover-up
remains to be proven ”.
It is diffi cult to escape the obvious conclusion: that
USA Gymnastics, which failed Biles and so many others
so spectacularly, should not really still be standing. Last
year the US O C began a push to decertify the body. Yet
here we still are, with the expectation, certainly on the
part of USA G , that its death sentence will be reprieved.
While Michigan State has so far paid out $500m
in compensation, none of Nassar’s victims ha s yet been
compensated by USAG. Allegedly to expedite this, USAG
has begun bankruptcy proceedings – but these have had
the (intended?) eff ect of staying the executioner’s hand.
It cannot be decertifi ed until bankruptcy proceedings
have been concluded. At this rate USA Gymnastics will
still be running the show for the Tokyo Olympics next
year, and perhaps for good.
The congressional committee who wrote the report
are outraged that declaring bankruptcy could buy
USAG almost indefi nite time. As one senator puts it:
“Bankruptcy proceedings should not impede real
accountability for bankrupt morals and leadership.
American gymnasts deserve so much more than the
inept and ineff ective USAG.”
But will they get it? For all the leadership churn at
USAG – they are currently on their fourth president
since allegations surfaced – many senior offi cials
remain in post.
In a particular irony, another part of the reason USAG
enjoys success is because of Biles, the only gymnast
who disclosed abuse by Nassar to be still competing.
Double the crowds turned out for the women’s
competition than graced the men’s event – record crowds- and they come in large part to see the historically
sensational Biles at work. If only she could be permitted
to have just one job – instead of both striving to win and
having to push for justice against all the adults who did
n ot do theirs.
Marina Hyde
Golf
Time to make an
example of slow
DeChambeau
Page 43 Football
Spurs must prove
not even Eriksen
is irreplaceable
Page 47 ▲ Simone Biles drew
record crowds during
her historic display
at the US gymnastics
championships
DENNY MEDLEY/
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