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Raisman latest US gymnast to criticise Bono appointment

ALY RAISMAN has become the latest US gymnast to criticise the country’s governing body for hiring Mary Bono as interim president and chief executive.

Former Republican congresswoman Bono was appointed by USA Gymnastics (USAG) last week, with the organisation still dealing with the fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving former USAG doctor Larry Nassar, of whom Raisman and fellow Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles were both victims.

Following Biles’s criticism of Bono’s appointment over the weekend, Raisman pointed out that Bono previously held a role at law firm Faegre Baker Daniels and noted that lawyers at the company were aware of allegations against Nasser, who was jailed for life earlier this year, as far back at 2015.

Raisman tweeted: “My teammates & I reported Nassar’s abuse to USAG in 2015. We now know USOC [United States Olympic Committee] & lawyers at Faegre Baker Daniels were also told then, yet Nassar continued to abuse children for 13 months!? Why hire someone associated with the firm that helped cover up our abuse?”

In follow-up tweets Raisman added: “Clearly this is not a ‘new’ USAG. Same corrupt decisions. Perhaps it’s because true accountability is less likely if authority is placed in the hands of someone similarly motivated to avoid it” and “survivors, current gymnasts, families, coaches, gymnastics community & fans deserve better. We can’t move forward until we know exactly what happened. USAG take accountability, be transparent, release all your documents & data. PLEASE tell the truth. This is so devastating.”

Biles criticised the new USAG head for a tweet in September, in which Bono joined in the nationalistic criticism of Nike’s advertising campaign featuring blacklisted NFL quarterback and African-American rights activist Colin Kapernick.
 

Bono deleted the tweet, in which she posted a photograph of herself scribbling out the Nike logo on a golf shoe, and admitted her regret for posting it, stating that she respected “everyone’s views and fundamental right to express them.”
 

She was appointed to hold the position while USAG searches for a permanent successor to Kerry Perry, who resigned last month after nine months following widespread criticism for her failure to reform the organisation after the Nassar scandal.
 

Nassar pleaded guilty to charges of keeping child pornography and sexual abuse.

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