UNITED STATES
Associated Press
August 19, 2018
By Will Graves
The legal portion of the Larry Nassar scandal at USA Gymnastics may soon be over.
USA Gymnastics President Kerry Perry said representatives for both the organization and athletes who were abused by Nassar – a former national team doctor who abused hundreds of women under the guise of medical treatment – met last week. Perry called the mediation talks “not only productive but continuing to move us down the path of resolution.”
Perry made the remarks on Sunday in her first extended question-and-answer session with reporters since taking over last December. Her public silence during the first 260 days of her tenure has drawn the ire of Nassar victims, including reigning Olympic champion Simone Biles, who last week it was time for Perry to speak up. Perry said she respected Biles’s opinion and called the kind of changes the organization is making in the wake of the scandal “scary.”
“I want her and all of our athletes to know we have their best interests at heart,” Perry said. “I would hope that they know that I and all of the leaderships have their best interests in mind.”
Perry says she spent her first eight months on the job trying to get a handle on the landscape within USA Gymnastics and allowed it’s difficult to communicate with survivors on an individual level due to the ongoing legal situation. Perry added the goal in the end is to have “our survivors standing side by side with our organization.”
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