Gymnastics

The 2020 American Cup takes place on Saturday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and will see a host of the world's top gymnasts in action in one of the sport's most prestigious competitions.

All eyes will be on six-time national champion Sam Mikulak in the men's event. The 2014 American Cup winner faces stiff competition from Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev, Nestor Abad of Spain and Japan's Daiki Hashimoto. 

Six-time world medallist Morgan Hurd is back after missing out last year and is the favourite to win the women's event, but she will come up against quality opposition in team-mate Kayla DiCello, Canada's Ellie Black and Italy's Giorgia Villa.

        

Date: Saturday, March 7

Time: 11 a.m. local time/12 p.m. ET/5 p.m. GMT.

TV Info: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live

      

American Cup Preview

For the first time, the American Cup forms part of qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyko, meaning there is even more importance than usual on the famous tournament. 

The women's event will see Hurd out to claim the title for the second time in her career. The American Cup will be the 18-year-old's first appearance of 2020, and she has a new floor routine ready to go:

https://twitter.com/olympicchannel/status/1235596924746686465

There will be plenty of eyes on Hurd's American team-mate DiCello. The 16-year-old is being tipped to enjoy a breakout season after becoming national junior champion in 2019.

Meanwhile, Saturday's event will see Black back in action after suffering an ankle injury at the world championships in 2019. She made a partial return to competition in February, competing in two events in Calgary.

Black is one of the most consistent and dynamic gymnasts in the world and should be in contention for a medal in what promises to be an exciting battle in the woman's competition.

Mikulak is the headline act in the men's event and landed a record sixth all-around title in August by the largest margin in history to cement his place as America's top male gymnast:

Sam Mikulak looking better than ever on his way to his 6th national AA title! #USGymChamps pic.twitter.com/znEqBzgRYv

— FloGymnastics (@FloGymnastics) August 11, 2019

Yet the 27-year-old will need to be at his best to claim gold with a stacked field in attendance in Milwaukee.

Ukraine's Verniaiev is likely to be a serious threat. He won silver in the all-round title at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold in the parallel bars.

He also finished third at the 2019 world championships less than seven months after undergoing surgery on both ankles.

Here's a look at the 26-year-old's quality:

https://twitter.com/UEGymnastics/status/1178235497480691714

Abad and Hashimoto are also serious contenders, while America's Shane Wiskus is also in good shape after winning the national vault title in 2019 and finishing second at the Winter Cup Challenge in February.

Former USA gymnastics star Aly Raisman does not believe the proposed settlement from the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal is adequate.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist discussed her thoughts Monday on the Today Show:

“It’s honestly, it’s offensive. … They’re just trying to push it under the rug and hoping people will forget about it when they watch the Olympics this summer,” @aly_raisman says to @stephgosk about gymnastics’ officials handling of sexual abuse scandal pic.twitter.com/nP61Ak9k38

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 2, 2020

"USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic Committee, they refuse to take any accountability to address the issue, to figure out what went wrong," Raisman said. 

Raisman was one of more than 150 women who said Nassar sexually abused them while he was a team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State. He pled guilty to three counts of criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

USA Gymnastics has offered a settlement proposal to the victims, which pays out $215 million divided among those affected on a tiered system, according to Liz Clarke of the Washington Post. It also would release former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny, former coaches Martha and Bela Karolyi and others from liability, while ignoring survivors' requests for officials to disclose who was aware of and hid the abuses at the time.

Raisman added: "[The settlement proposal] shows they don't care. They're just trying to push it under the rug and hoping that, I think, people forget about it when they watch the Olympics this summer."

The lack of investigation has especially bothered Raisman:

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? https://t.co/y1kP5BX5iB

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) February 29, 2020

How’d it begin? WE DON’T KNOW! Who looked away? WE DON’T KNOW! Why’d they stay? WE DON’T KNOW! Who tried 2 help & got pushed out? WE DON’T KNOW! Who didn’t try & just snuck out? WE DON’T KNOW! They come, they go. What did they know? Where’d they go? WE DON’T KNOW! WE DON’T KNOW!

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) February 29, 2020

Attorney John C. Manly, who represents about 200 of the athletes filing lawsuits against USA Gymnastics, turned down the offer, saying it showed "complete disregard for the athletes," per Clarke.

High-profile athletes like Raisman and Simone Biles calling for more to be done could help put the pressure on the organization to increase transparency.

USA Gymnastics proposed a payment system Friday to compensate survivors of sexual assault by former national team doctor Larry Nassar.

Per ESPN.com, the system is part of a $215 million total settlement offer with a tiered structure determining payouts ranging from $82,550 to $1.25 million.

The four-tiered settlement proposal includes $82,550 payments to individuals with "derivative claims"; $174,401 for gymnasts who were abused at non-USA Gymnastics locations; $508,670 payments to non-elite gymnasts sexually abused at USA Gymnastics-sanctioned events; and $1,250,757 payments to those sexually abused by Nassar at the Olympics, world championships, national team training camps or other national team events.

The report noted "attorneys representing hundreds of Nassar survivors have indicated that the proposal is insufficient."

Attorney John Manly, who represents 200 Nassar survivors, spoke with Scott M. Reid of the Orange County Register about the proposal:

"Let's be clear for parents considering putting your child in a gym sanctioned by USA Gymnastics what USA Gymnastics is saying if we place a known pedophile in that gym and that individual rapes your child then your child is worth $82,000. My client Rachael Denhollander asked what is a little girl worth. Apparently if you're raped by the national team doctor you're worth $82,000 to USA Gymnastics.

"This is the most disgusting, reprehensible, vile view of children I can imagine. And for [USA Gymnastics] to put this out there and act like it is a constructive step shows how out of touch they are. Steve Penny was so bad USA Gymnastics banned him for life, the Karolyis, every one of them, and they pay nothing. They have no consequences. What message does that send to the next Steve Penny? The message is you get off scot free. You're better off putting your kids in roller derby."

If the settlement were agreed upon, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny and former national team directors Bela and Martha Karolyi would be released from further claims.

The proposal would be paid out to 517 survivors of abuse by Nassar or other coaches and trainers with United States Gymnastics.

In January, USA Gymnastics filed a plan to emerge from bankruptcy that included the $215 million settlement proposal. The organization filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2018 to "expedite an equitable resolution of the claims made by the survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by Larry Nassar."

In addition to his work with USA Gymnastics, Nassar worked as a sports doctor at Michigan State University from 1997 to 2016.

In 2018, Michigan State reached a $500 million settlement in lawsuits brought by 332 survivors of Nassar's abuse. The agreement included $425 million in payouts to claimants and $75 million put into a trust to protect future claimants alleging sexual abuse by Nassar.

Nassar was the medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics from 1996 to 2014. He is serving at least 100 years in prison after being convicted of child pornography and criminal sexual conduct charges in three separate cases.

Former Michigan State University gymnastics coach Kathie Klages was convicted on two counts of lying to police Friday. 

According to Megan Banta of the Lansing State Journal, Klages told police during a June 21, 2018, interview that two gymnasts did not tell her in 1997 that they were sexually abused by then-MSU sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar was convicted of multiple sex crimes against underage girls stemming from his time at Michigan State and with USA Gymnastics, and he is serving what amounts to a life sentence in prison.

Klages is facing up to four years in prison for her conviction.

Klages said she didn't remember the gymnasts, who were 14 and 16 at the time, or the conversation and denied knowing about Nassar's abuse before the Indianapolis Star's Tim Evans, Mark Alesia and Marisa Kwiatkowski reported on the allegations against Nassar in 2016.

After a lengthy stint as the head women's gymnastics coach at MSU, Klages was suspended in 2017 because of allegations that she ignored information that Nassar sexually assaulted gymnasts and discouraged them from speaking out.

Klages retired from coaching shortly thereafter.

Klages is the second former co-worker of Nassar to be found guilty of turning a blind eye to his misconduct since last year.

In August, former MSU dean William Strampel was sentenced to one year in jail for misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty after it was determined that he showed "complete indifference" about whether Nassar was following protocol following a 2014 sexual assault complaint.

USA Gymnastics' proposed bankruptcy plan includes a $215 million settlement with the 500 Larry Nassar sexual assault survivors suing it, according to the Associated Press. 

Per that report, "The $215 million total is the amount the insurance carriers for USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee are willing to provide in hopes of ending years of legal battles with athletes who were abused by former national team doctor Larry Nassar."

Nassar was found guilty of sexual assault and possession of child pornography in Michigan and on federal child pornography charges. All of his convictions add up to a de facto lifetime sentence. 

Nassar was also previously employed by Michigan State, which settled with 300 Nassar survivors in May 2018 for $500 million. 

The attorneys representing those survivors, John Manly and Jon Little, were not pleased with USA Gymnastics' proposal, according to Nancy Armour of USA Today:

"Both John Manly and Jon Little said the $215 million is not enough compensation. They also initially criticized the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for not contributing to the settlement, but the USOPC later said it was.

"'This amount won’t even cover the therapy that these women need, probably for the rest of their lives, and the excruciating emotional toll and pain,' said Manly, who estimated each woman would get between $250,000 and $300,000.

"'It's just one more punch in the gut.'"  

Manley added that that the proposed settlement didn't include the release of documents that would further show Nassar's abuse over the years.

"It lacks any disclosure, it lacks any accountability," he said. "...They're still treating this like a public relations problem, not the systemic rape of young women and girls."

Simone Biles capped off a historic 2019 by being named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. 

Per the AP's Will Graves, Biles finished first in the voting ahead of United States women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe, American skier Mikaela Schiffrin and WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne.

This marks the second time Biles has been honored as the AP Female Athlete of the Year. She previously took home the honor in 2016 after winning four gold medals at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

Biles made history in October when she became the most-decorated gymnast ever when she won a record-breaking 25th career medal at the Gymnastics World Championships.

Biles' rising stardom, which included video of her triple-double at the World Championships and a first pitch prior to Game 2 of the World Series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros going viral, told Graves her profile is growing beyond the usual gymnastics fandom. 

"I'm starting to realize it's not just the gymternet anymore,'' Biles said. "It's an overall thing. It's weird to get that kind of attention, but at the end of the day, I feel gymnastics has been overlooked in non-Olympic years. Yeah, it puts pressure on me. But I'm not trying to think about all the attention from the outside world.''

It would be hard for any athlete to top what Biles was able to accomplish this year, but she will have an opportunity. The Ohio native figures to be in the running for the award next year as she heads to Tokyo with Team USA for the 2020 Olympics. 

An investigator working for USA Gymnastics never interviewed Simone Biles to ask whether she was abused by Larry Nassar, the Wall Street Journal's Louise Radnofsky reported (h/t Nancy Armour of USA Today).

Biles didn't provide a comment to Radnofsky, but her parents, Ron and Nellie, issued a statement to the WSJ: "We continue to struggle with how and why this happened, and every time we hear something new like this, it feels like the harshest of betrayals and it is just too painful for our family to talk about openly."

Biles later addressed the story on Twitter:

Can’t tell you how hard this is to read and process. The pain is real and doesn’t just go away...especially when new facts are still coming out. What’s it going to take for a complete and independent investigation of both USOPC and USAG??? https://t.co/UrDXIrTng9

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) November 22, 2019

Nassar worked as a team doctor for USA Gymnastics. He received concurrent prison sentences of 40 to 175 years and 40 to 125 years in 2018 after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault.

Biles shared a statement on Twitter to say she was among the gymnasts who had been abused by Nassar.

Feelings... 💭 #MeToo pic.twitter.com/ICiu0FCa0n

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 15, 2018

"For too long I've asked myself, 'Was I too naive? Was it my fault?'" she wrote. "I now know the answer to those questions. No. No, it was not my fault. No, I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others."

The Indianapolis Star first published in August 2016 an investigation into USA Gymnastics that "uncovered multiple examples of children suffering the consequences, including a Georgia case in which a coach preyed on young female athletes for seven years after USA Gymnastics dismissed the first of four warnings about him."

The Star followed up in September 2016 to report two former gymnasts had accused Nassar of sexual abuse.

Rhonda Faehn, the former senior vice president of USA Gymnastics, provided written testimony in June 2018 as part of an investigation by the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection. 

Faehn said she had informed then-USAG President Steve Penny of allegations against Nassar in June 2015. A note she had provided to the Senate subcommittee included the names of Biles and Aly Raisman.

Legal representatives for Penny, however, told the Wall Street Journal that Faehn had not provided Biles' name specifically as a possible victim of Nassar.

American gymnast Simone Biles set the all-time record Sunday for medals at the world championships, winning her 24th and 25th medals on the balance beam and floor exercise, respectively.

The victory on the beam broke a tie with Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus.

The bulk of her medals were gold, and she would add one more after this tweet was sent:

Simone Biles wins gold on balance beam to become the most decorated gymnast of all-time at the World Championships with 24 total medals.

18 of the 24 medals in world championship competition have been golds. pic.twitter.com/EhtFnXKl0F

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 13, 2019

The 22-year-old couldn't hold back her excitement when the results of her beam routine came in:

https://twitter.com/olympicchannel/status/1183354191831547904

Biles went for a slightly easier routine than the one she performed earlier in the competition, scoring 15.066 to finish ahead of China's Liu Tingting and Li Shijia.

She then added the floor gold with a routine that scored 15.133, beating team-mate Sunisa Lee and Russia's Angelina Melnikova.

Biles won five total gold medals during the world championships in Stuttgart in what was another phenomenal showing. The New York Times' Andrew Das put it simply:

Breaking: Simone Biles continues to be better at her job than almost everyone else is at theirs. https://t.co/2gvUszcyHD

— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) October 13, 2019

Her record of 25 medals is even more remarkable considering she took a hiatus in 2017 and didn't compete after winning four Olympic gold medals in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Scherbo won his 23 medals during the 1990s, taking 12 golds in total. He never won a gold medal at the Olympics, settling for four bronze medals during the 1996 games in Atlanta.

Simone Biles equalled Vitaly Scherbo's record of 23 World Gymnastics Championship medals on Saturday.

The American picked up gold—her 17th in total—on the vault in Stuttgart, Germany, ahead of compatriot Jade Carey and Ellie Downie of Great Britain.

Scherbo set the record between 1991 and 1996 while representing the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and then Belarus.

Here's footage of one of Biles' two winning vaults, which earned her a combined score of 15.399:

https://twitter.com/olympicchannel/status/1183035485146570752

Biles, 22, could have broken the record in the uneven bars event on Saturday, but she failed to secure a medal and finished fifth:

Uneven Bars Final at #Stuttgart2019:
🥇Nina Derwael, 🇧🇪 - 15.233
🥈Rebecca Downie, 🇬🇧 - 15.0
🥉Sunisa Lee, 🇺🇸 - 14.8
4. Angelina Melnikova, 🇷🇺 - 14.733
5. Simone Biles, 🇺🇸 - 14.7
6. Daria Spiridonova, 🇷🇺 - 14.633
7. Liu Tingting, 🇨🇳 - 14.4
8. Elisabeth Seitz, 🇩🇪 - 13.566

— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) October 12, 2019

She'll have two more attempts on Sunday, though, when she competes in the balance beam and floor exercise events.

Biles won gold in the floor exercise events at the World Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018, as well as at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

In the balance beam, she picked up bronze last year, in 2013 and at the Olympics, as well as gold medals in 2014 and 2015.

Biles had already set a record earlier in the Championships when she became the only woman to earn five all-around gold medals.

American superstar Simone Biles captured her fifth all-around title at the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Germany this week, and she wants to use her success to inspire young girls to become the best in the world at their craft.

Biles told Nancy Armour of USA Today on Friday she's intent on exposing the double standard of celebrating achievements, especially within the sports realm.

"It's important to teach our female youth that it's OK to say, 'Yes, I am good at this,' and you don't hold back," Biles said. "You only see the men doing it. And they're praised for it and the women are looked down upon for it. But I feel like it's good [to do] because once you realize you're confident and good at it, then you're even better at what you do."

She added: "It's not out of cockiness. I've won five world titles and if I say, 'I'm the best gymnast there is,' [the reaction is] 'Oh, she's cocky. Look at her now.' No, the facts are literally on the paper. I think it's important to teach [young girls] that."

Biles now owns a strong case as the best gymnast in history and she could end any type of debate with an all-around gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics next year in Tokyo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyZRVy5GgR8

The 22-year-old is likely to emerge as the face of Team USA next summer and could be the biggest name on the global stage following the retirements of American swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt after the 2016 Summer Games.

"I try to stay focused on myself and the expectations I have for myself going in. But at times it's overwhelming," Biles told Armour about being in the spotlight. "I don't know. Somehow I just manage it."

Her success, which is highlighted by 27 medals, including 20 gold, between the Olympics and the World Championships, is something that's caught even her off guard at times.

"I wish I could have an out-of-body experience to witness it because sometimes I think I'm going crazy," Biles said. "I really don't know how I do it sometimes."

In a sport where athletes peak early, usually in their teens, Biles has now been the best gymnast is the world for six years, and the gap between the American and her closest competition is seemingly growing.