Gold-medal-winning Olympic gymnast McKayla Moroney has made a statement on social media alleging that she was sexually abused by her team doctor, who is already facing a slew of other charges for abusing other female gymnasts.
Moroney, who is best known for being part of the artistic gymnastics squad known as the ‘Fierce Five’, who took home gold at the London Olympics, alleged that she was abused by team doctor Lawrence G. Nassar over a period of years, beginning when she was just 13 years old.
According to Moroney, Nassar abused the girls under the pretence of providing them medical treatment. “It seemed whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was ‘treated,’ ” she said in the post. “It happened in London before my team and I won the gold medal, and it happened before I won my silver.”
She continued:
For me, the scariest night of my life happened when I was 15 years old. I had flown all day and night with the team to get to Tokyo. He’d given me a sleeping pill for the flight, and the next thing I know, I was all alone with him in his hotel room getting a ‘treatment.’ I thought I was going to die that night.
Moroney says in her post that she was inspired to come forward with her account by the stories of harassment and assault other women have been posting online as part of the ‘Me Too’ movement.
Nassar is currently in jail, and is facing 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving at least seven victims. The charges relate to accusations from seven gymnasts, lawyers say there are dozens of other accusers. Many of these women have joined a lawsuit against USA Gymnastics.
Maroney’s post is below in full:
#MeToo pic.twitter.com/lYXaDTuOsS
— mckayla (@McKaylaMaroney) October 18, 2017
Maroney is also known for being the subject of a viral photo of the “McKayla is not impressed” meme, where she was photographed looking disappointed / skeptical after missing out on a gold medal for an individual performance at the 2012 Olympics. She later replicated the photo with Barack Obama during a visit to the White House.
