College Gymnastics

FBI agents who mishandled the investigation against former United States women's gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar won't be charged. 

The United States Justice Department announced on Thursday it won't pursue criminal charges against the agents who failed to quickly investigate after learning in 2015 that Nassar was accused of sexually assaulting female gymnasts. 

"This does not in any way reflect a view that the investigation of Nassar was handled as it should have been, nor in any way reflects approval or disregard of the conduct of the former agents," the department said.

Per CNN's Evan Perez, this marks the third time the Justice Department has declined to bring charges against Michael Langeman and W. Jay Abbott, the two FBI agents who were accused of mishandling the Nassar inquiry. 

In July, a report from a Justice Department inspector general found gross failures on the part of the FBI after receiving complaints from multiple gymnasts in 2015 about Nassar's abuse. 

According to Perez, the inspector general's report noted agents at the FBI Indianapolis field office failed to respond to the allegations "with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond, and violated multiple FBI policies when undertaking their investigative activity."

U.S. gymnastics officials first notified the FBI about abuse allegations against Nassar in July 2015, but a formal investigation didn't begin until September 2016. 

Thirteen women who were victims of sexual assault by Nassar filed a lawsuit against the FBI last month seeking $10 million each, arguing the delay in the investigation allowed Nassar to commit further abuse. 

U.S. Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman testified before Congress in September to detail their experience with the FBI when they brought forth allegations of abuse against Nassar. 

Maroney said, "They allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year," while Biles told the court she felt the FBI had "turned a blind eye" when presented with allegations against Nassar.

The FBI fired Langeman following the release of the Justice Department's report on the investigation; Abbott retired in 2018. 

Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He is also serving a separate 60-year sentence on child pornography charges. 

At least 265 women have come forward to say Nassar abused them.     

Valeri Liukin, a gymnastics coach who is in the running to be named the high-performance director for USA Gymnastics and considered the favorite to earn the gig, is reportedly "under investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for multiple allegations of verbal and psychological abuse of young gymnasts," per Scott M. Reid of The Orange County Register. 

According to that report, USA Gymnastics and its CEO Li Li Leung, chief programs officer Stefanie Korepin and women's program vice president Annie Heffernan have known about the allegations and investigation since Feb. 9. 

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has reportedly been investigating Liukin since Jan. 27. 

Multiple gymnasts said they were "routinely berated, belittled and screamed at by Liukin, that he forced them to compete and train on broken bones or when they were ill, and they were fat-shamed daily, according to SafeSport complaints and USA Gymnastics documents and multiple interviews by SCNG."

Several said the abuse began when they were as young as 10 years old. 

"Being called fat, worthless, weak, stupid, idiot, etc. was a normal occurrence," former U.S. national team gymnast McKenzie Wofford wrote in a complaint to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. "Going into the gym, I was terrified about what was going to happen that day. While there were multiple incidents that were traumatizing."

Wofford also said that Liukin forced her to continue practicing at a 2011 U.S. national team training camp despite the young gymnast having a fever and diarrhea. He allegedly accused her of "being a wimp and faking" and made her "show the trainer my diarrhea after I went one time in front of everyone."

"Valeri always said I was lazy, he said that I'm fat, I'm useless and I'm not ever going to amount to anything in life and I believed all of it," said Megan Marenghi, who overdosed twice and attempted suicide after she said a feeling of worthlessness continued to fester following her time training with Liukin. "I thought he was right. I amounted to nothing. Why am I still here?"

Liukin is the father of Nastia Liukin, a five-time Olympic medalist who won the all-around gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. Marenghi said she saw the elder Liukin scream at his daughter and push her up against the wall, leaving her in tears. 

He also allegedly forced his young gymnasts to use a treadmill during the summer in Texas while wearing sweatsuits if he decided they were overweight. 

USA Gymnastics has continued to be under the microscope in the wake of former team doctor Larry Nassar allegedly sexually assaulting as many as 500 girls and women during his time with the national team and at Michigan State. 

Nassar was convicted on a number of charges and will spend the rest of his life in prison. The U.S. Olympic Committee settled with the survivors of Nassar's abuse to the tune of $380 million. 

"After Nassar, the biggest promise USA Gymnastics made was they were going to change the culture," Wofford's mother Kristie said. "They were going to clear out who was there when Nassar was there, who was there when all of it went on. Valeri was dead in the middle of it and now for him to come back? I would be very concerned with Valeri bringing back the old culture of mental abuse that he put those girls through."

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee will pay $380 million to the survivors of former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar's abuse, as well as other survivors of abuse by coaches and others involved in the sport, after reaching a settlement in a yearslong lawsuit.

USA Today's Nancy Armour reported USA Gymnastics and the USOPC will also meet "several other nonmonetary provisions" to settle the suit. Survivors of Nassar's abuse were previously awarded $500 million in a lawsuit filed against Michigan State University, which also employed the convicted serial sexual abuser, per ESPN's Dan Murphy and John Barr.

"This settlement is the result of the bravery of hundreds of survivors who, despite legal obstacles, long odds and the best corporate legal talent money can buy, refused to be silent. The power of their story eventually won the day," said attorney John Manly, who represented the plaintiffs.

Among the nonmonetary agreements in the settlement is a requirement that USA Gymnastics creates a restorative justice program "that will give survivors significant influence over how the organization addresses sexual assault issues in the future," per Murphy and Barr.

According to Armour, the settlement will also require a survivor to hold at least one seat on the USAG board and survivors will also be part of the organization's health and safety and Safe Sport committees. Member clubs will also be required to post information in their gyms on how to report sexual abuse and have staff undergo Safe Sport training.

Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and federal child pornography charges in multiple criminal cases in 2017 and 2018. More than 180 women and girls he had seen as patients said he sexually assaulted them while he was working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. The number of victims is at least 265 women, many of whom were minors at the time of Nassar's abuse. 

He was sentenced to 40 to 175 years and 40 to 125 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct and another 60 years for obtaining and possessing child pornography. 

Per Murphy and Barr, "Multiple investigations found that officials from USA Gymnastics, the USOPC and Michigan State University failed to stop Nassar's abuse despite years of complaints and warning signs."

Concerns about Nassar were first raised by a parent at the Twistars Gymnastics Club in 1997. A student-athlete at MSU said she reported Nassar to team coaches and trainers in 1998 but said the school did not take action based on her report; a second student-athlete reported Nassar in 2000 but said the university again failed to take any action.

"This settlement occurred because of a five-year, bare knuckled legal fight the USOPC and USA Gymnastics decided to initiate against me and 500-plus sister survivors. After thousands of hours of this survivors' committee's time, blood, sweat and tears, today we prevailed," attorney Sarah Klein told ESPN.

Among the women who publicly accused Nassar were Olympic medalists McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. 

Multiple Black gymnasts who've competed at the collegiate level expressed concern to ESPN about a growing disconnect between themselves and white head coaches, which one source said has led prominent college programs to begin seeking out a race-based "specific type of gymnast." 

ESPN's David Hale, D'Arcy Maine and Alex Scarborough reported Friday a June Twitter post by former Alabama gymnast Tia Kiaku led other Black gymnasts at several NCAA programs to speak about their experiences with racism and isolation.

@BamaGymnastics Do we really stand together? The program that allowed the Assistant Coach to make a racist “joke” & ask a group of black girls “what is this the back of the bus”,allowed gymnast to say the N word, and much more. You cant stand with us & allow injustices to happen.

— Tia Kiaku 🇨🇩 (@tia_kiaku33) June 2, 2020

Kiaku said Crimson Tide assistant coach Bill Lorenz came up to herself and two Black teammates, Makarri Doggette and Sania Mitchell, while they were sitting together during a vault practice and said, "What is this, the back of the bus?" referring to segregated bus lines prior to the Civil Rights Movement.

She told ESPN that Lorenz never apologized to her for the incident, though Doggette and Mitchell told the school he did reach out with an apology. She added there were numerous other times during her time at Alabama, which ended in January, where the use of the N-word was qualified as being "just a joke."

Kiaku explained she's reached out to around 20 other programs since leaving the Tide in hope of competing in one more season of college gymnastics but received no offers.

"I didn't want my gymnastics career to end so quickly," she told ESPN. "But if I have to be the guide for other Black gymnasts to feel like they can speak out, I'm totally fine with that."

Alabama gymnastics coach Dana Duckworth didn't discuss any of the specifics raised by Kiaku, saying she "respectfully disagree[d] with the assumptions" made in the questions, but offered a statement to ESPN:

"Through training and education, I've worked to enhance my awareness of how thoughts, beliefs, words and actions can affect others. In coordination with our University's and Department's strong diversity, equity and inclusion leadership, we've also done trainings and had conversations as a team to further enhance the inclusive and supportive culture of our program, where racism and racial insensitivity have never been acceptable."

Penn State's Erynne Allen said speaking out on the topic is "scary and hard":

"You accept the fact that when you go to a meet, the mesh isn't going to match your skin tone because you're not white. When you order your undergarments for your leotard, they're not going to match because you're not white. We have to put what's called 'skin tone' tape we have to put over our athletic tape, and I always laugh because it doesn't really do much for me."

Telah Black, who competed for Auburn from 2016 through 2018, called her final season with the Tigers "lonely and challenging."

"I remember everyone laughing, but I didn't think it was funny," Black told ESPN about a holiday party where she was gifted acorns from a teammate who said, "That's what your head looks like." "It was just one situation of many where I felt so uneasy, and like I had no support."

The NCAA gymnastics coaching community also lacks diversity with only two Black head coaches and four Black assistants, per ESPN.

UCLA junior and former U.S. national team member Margzetta Frazier told ESPN about the body image issues she experienced because she felt judges would score her differently because she is Black.

"I hated my body for the longest time," said Frazier. "I felt the only way for the judges to get past my color was for them to at least see how beautiful and thin my body could look, but it was impossible for me to look like that in a healthy way."

Alexis Brown, who knelt during the national anthem in protest of police violence and racial injustice during her time at UC Davis, said her coach John Lavallee told her "she was setting a bad example for children in attendance and disrespected the American flag" and said she was being "overly dramatic" because "racism is not a thing anymore." She said her teammates also started avoiding her.

"I felt isolated every single day," Brown said. "At that point, I was crying multiple times a day, crying through beam routines. It was pretty hostile."

Although many student-athletes spoke to ESPN about their experiences, others turned down the opportunity because of the "fear of retribution." 

Alabama women's gymnastics head coach Dana Duckworth has responded on Twitter to allegations from ex-Crimson Tide gymnast Tia Kiaku that an assistant coach, Bill Lorenz, made a racist joke and that a teammate used a racial slur (h/t Mike Rodak of AL.com).

Duckworth wrote: 

"I feel throughout this experience we have all learned and are continuing to learn together. As the head coach, I am ultimately responsible for this program. There was a report made, and while I cannot get into specifics on that, I can say it resulted in many discussions, conversations and training, which have also resulted in increased awareness as well as growth personally and professionally.

"No one in life is exempt from mistakes, regret, heartache and challenging issues. Our core values have always been respect, integrity and class while providing an open and safe community for everyone associated with this program. We strive to learn with one another and grow with a greater understanding as we continue to foster an inclusive and unified family environment."

On Wednesday, Kiaku outlined numerous incidents she said occurred while she was on the team: "During a practice, only the three African American girls (including myself) just happened to be on vault drills together. While practicing, one of the black gymnasts said 'look all the black girls are all on the same event' responding to the statement, the Assistant Coach walked over and said 'What is this, the back of the bus?'"

Kiaku said that she left the team after much deliberation and "a lot of thought, lots of crying and even some tough/hard discussions with the head coach and some of my teammates."

Kiaku also spoke with Rodak about other incidents she said occurred:

"Kiaku recounted Duckworth showing pictures of Alabama’s former African-American gymnasts on a wall but saying of current volunteer assistant coach Aja Sims, 'She’s not really black. She wasn’t really raised black.'

"Sims tweeted a statement Thursday evening saying she has been 'treated with love and respect by the coaching staff and girls on the team,' but adding, 'my experiences are not indicative of everyone else’s.'

"Kiaku also claimed Duckworth, in a phone conversation with [Kiaku's mother Desiree Gregory], asked whether her father was still part of her life, which Kiaku believes perpetuated an African-American stereotype.

"According to Kiaku, Duckworth also asked a group of black gymnasts on the team during photo day if they were taking an 'African-American appreciation' picture. Separately, Kiaku claimed Duckworth pulled a gymnast out of a junior class photo so a 'minority picture' could be taken with the African-American athletes."

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne said in a statement that a Title IX investigation was launched following the accusation against Lorenz. Per Byrne, an "outcome was reported" and "action steps were taken."

"We are a department that is committed to providing a just and inclusive community for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, operating with integrity and respect," Byrne said.

Lorenz is listed on the Crimson Tide website as one of three assistant coaches under Duckworth, who has guided the program since July 2014.

Per Rodak, Kiaku entered the NCAA transfer portal in February.

Tia Kiaku, a former gymnast at the University of Alabama, said Tuesday on Instagram an assistant coach made a racist joke to her and other African American teammates during a practice and another teammate was permitted to use racial slurs without consequence.

Kiaku described the behavior of the assistant coach in her post:

"I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to address a very disturbing and grave incident that occurred last year while I was on the Gymnastics team at the University of Alabama.

"During a practice, only the three African American girls (including myself) just happened to be on vault drills together. While practicing, one of the black gymnasts said 'look all the black girls are all on the same event' responding to the statement, the Assistant Coach walked over and said 'What is this, the back of the bus?'"

She also wrote on Twitter that the program allowed a fellow gymnast to use a racial slur:

@BamaGymnastics Do we really stand together? The program that allowed the Assistant Coach to make a racist “joke” & ask a group of black girls “what is this the back of the bus”,allowed gymnast to say the N word, and much more. You cant stand with us & allow injustices to happen.

— Tia Kiaku 🇨🇩 (@tia_kiaku33) June 2, 2020

Per Cecil Hurt of TideSports.com, Kiaku was a walk-on member of the Crimson Tide after transferring from Ball State two years ago.

In a statement, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said the school was "limited by law on what we can speak about regarding equal opportunity matters" but did describe what steps were taken after Kiaku filed a complaint:

"When the complaint was received, it was immediately reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Programs on campus as well as the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. From there, an investigation, completely separate from athletics, took place. Once the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Programs gathered all of the facts, an outcome was determined, reported back and action steps were taken. We are a department that is committed to providing a just and inclusive community for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, operating with integrity and respect."

Kiaku wrote in her post that "after much consideration, a lot of thought, lots of crying and even some tough/hard discussions" with head coach Dana Duckworth and some teammates, she decided to leave the team and the school.

Melanie Coleman, a gymnast at Southern Connecticut State, died Sunday due to an injury she suffered during training on Nov. 8. 

"At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with Melanie's family," athletic director Jay Moran said in an official statement. "This has been devastating to her coaches and teammates and we hope to support them in this very difficult time. Melanie was a very bright student, an excellent athlete and involved member of the Southern Connecticut community. The entire Southern athletics family is greatly saddened by her loss."

The Hartford Courant's Daniela Altimari and Josh Kovner reported Coleman was practicing at an off-campus facility and slipped from the uneven bars. Patrick Dilger, a spokesman for the university, said her cause of death remained unknown, with USA Today's Scott Gleeson reporting she had a "serious spinal cord injury."

Coleman was in her junior year with the Owls.

A native of Milford, Connecticut, she was an all-state gymnast at Jonathan Law High School before following her sister, Tiffany, to Southern Connecticut State.

Less than two months after suffering a career-ending injury during competition, Auburn gymnast Sam Cerio was able to walk down the aisle at her wedding:

https://twitter.com/BeckyC58/status/1135098368911380481

Cerio gained national attention in April when a video showed her devastating injury, which resulted in two dislocated knees and multiple torn ligaments in each. 

After the shot of the injury went viral, she went on the Today Show while also tweeting a message to people to stop spreading the video.

She has worked her way back from surgery and the gymnast was able to walk across the stage at Auburn's graduation in May:

Today was a good day 👩‍🎓

We are so proud of you @sam_cerio, Taylor & @abbymilliet!#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/mfSprqq91z

— Auburn Gymnastics (@AuburnGym) May 5, 2019

While she needed crutches for that achievement, Cerio was able stand and walk on her own for her wedding on June 1.

The ability to walk on her own made the day feel "a whole lot sweeter," she told Tess Demeyer of USA Today.

Yul Moldauer will hope to defend the American Cup when 2019's event begins on Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in North Carolina.

Moldauer took the men's title ahead of Great Britain's James Hall 12 months ago at the Hoffman Estates in Illinois. Hall is back to compete in the all-round gymnastics final again, as is Japan's Kenzo Shirai and Petro Pakhniuk of Ukraine.

There will be a new champion in the women's event, with last year's winner Morgan Hurd not scheduled to compete. Instead, Canada's Ellie Black will be among the favourites for the cup.

Date: Saturday, March 2

Time: 11:30 a.m. ET. 6:30 a.m. GMT.

TV Info: Olympic Channel. NBC.

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra. USA Gymnastics on YouTube.

Ticket information and athlete profiles are available at the competition's official website.

Hall will be looking to build on his strong showing in 2018. The intense nature of the event gives him six different opportunities to impress.

He was outstanding on the pommel horse in Illinois and also thrived on the high bar. Moldauer was also strong in these events as he finished in either the gold, silver or bronze positions on all six types of apparatus.

He was at his best on the still rings.

The 22-year-old has won this prize the last two years running and will take some beating.

If there's an obvious rival for Black, it's sure to be USA's Grace McCallum. She is planning a "brand-new floor routine" this weekend, according to Gymnastics.Sport. 

The same source noted how McCallum is setting her sights on a place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. A strong showing on home soil would go a long way to boosting the chances for the 16-year-old, who is already a world team champion for her country.

McCallum isn't the only young American Gymnast set to compete. There will also be a senior debut for fellow teenager Leanne Wong. The 15-year-old already has the U.S. junior all-round title to her credit.

It won't be easy for any member of the women's field to outperform Black, though. She won silver at the World Championships in 2017, and the 23-year-old has the experience to hold her nerve when it counts this weekend.

Japan's Mai Murakami could also impress the judges after finishing second to Hurd last year. Murakami was strong across all four apparatuses, particularly impressing on the vault and in the floor exercise.

While there is strong competition in both fields, Moldauer and Black appear primed to grade higher than the rest.