It is not without controversy that the US women’s gymnastics team begins its Rio Olympics on Sunday morning.
This week, the Indianapolis Star reported USA Gymnastics, the organization that runs the sport in the country, had disregarded numerous allegations of sexual assault against coaches. In a 2013 lawsuit filed in Georgia, two USA Gymnastics officials admitted under oath that the organization routinely dismissed sexual abuse allegations as hearsay unless they came directly from a victim or victim’s parent.
That led in part to Marvin Sharp, who was named 2010 Women’s Coach of the Year, skating by on allegations of him abusing a 12-year-old female gymnast in his counsel. It took four years for USA Gymnastics to report him to police, and they did so only in light of another allegation. Sharp was charged in federal court this past year, and killed himself in jail.
Then there is the apparent slighting of a current team member, 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez, from Old Bridge, NJ. Having excelled in qualifying, Hernandez is being kept out of the all-around competition, announced Saturday by coach Marta Karolyi. Veterans Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman were chosen to join superstar Simone Biles as the three to compete for the all-around gold.
“I definitely cried a lot this week,” Hernandez’s personal coach, Maggie Haney, told reporters in Rio this week. “But the way the puzzle fit together, certainly people needed to be in certain spots, and I have to respect the decision that was made.”
Karolyi, 73, is the wife of legendary gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, the Hungarian-born showman who was behind the likes of Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. It was an easy decision to have Biles compete in all four events, as she is the three-time defending world champion. She is the heavy favorite to become the fourth consecutive American woman (and fifth in history) to win gold in the all-around competition.
But per Olympics rules, to be eligible for that medal, the gymnast has to be entered in all four events — floor exercise, balance beam, uneven bars and vault. Even though Hernandez finished second in the all-around standings during Trials, Karolyi was not impressed with her uneven bar performance and has inserted the fifth member of the team, Madison Kocian, for her only event.
“I know it’s between me and Laurie,” Raisman said, according to Yahoo Sports. “Her bar routine does score higher than mine. It just comes down to what Marta thinks.”
The qualifications begin just before 10 a.m. Sunday, and the women’s all-around individual final is Thursday.