USA Gymnastics

USAG was established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation.[1]

The need for a governing body had begun to appear at the 1959 Pan American Games, when friction developed between the games' organizers, the Amateur Athletic Union, and the Olympic Gymnastics Committee. The NCAA was dissatisfied as well, and asked the National Association of Gymnastics Coaches to begin planning for a new national governing body. The U.S. Gymnastics Federation was established in 1963. But resistance by the AAU, which was loathe to relinquish control over gymnastics, and other factors meant that the new federation was not internationally recognized as the governing body of U.S. gymnastics until 1970.[6]

The organization renamed itself USA Gymnastics in 1993.[7]

In 1990, USA Gymnastics began to keet a list of people permanently banned from coaching for sexual abuse and other reasons. For example, the list includes Robert Dean Head, a USAG coach in Kentucky who in 1992 pled guilty to raping a 12-year-old, and Don Peters, the national coach for the 1984 Olympic team, who was banned in 2011 after two former gymnasts accused him of sexual abuse. USAG would begin requiring background checks for coaches in 2007.[8]

Yet by 1996, and possibly much earlier, USAG officials had begun a pattern of concealing and enabling sexual assaults on gymnasts by coaches and others.[9]

USAG leaders routinely dismissed complaints and warnings about coaches.[10][11] For example, USAG received complaints about coach Mark Schiefelbein long before he was convicted in 2003 of molesting a 10-year-old girl.[12] USAG officials would admit under oath in 2013 that allegations of sexual abuse were routinely dismissed as hearsay unless they came directly from a victim or victim's parent.

Even when USAG leaders believed the accusers, they sometimes allowed coaches to continue coaching for years. For example, they waited four years before telling the police that they had received credible allegations of sexual assault by Marvin Sharp, who became a USAG coach in 2010 and was jailed in 2015 on state and local charges of misconduct with a minor and possession of child pornography.[13]

USAG leaders even permitted coaches and others who were convicted of crimes to remain in the sport for years afterward. Documents released in the prosecution of Georgia coach William McCabe revealed how USAG responded to sexual misconduct allegations made against coaches from 1996 to 2006.[9] One letter says a USAG regional chair spoke to the organization's president in support of allowing a convicted sex offender to keep his membership. Other documents include sexual abuse complaints filed against 54 coaches, many of whom were convicted of crimes yet allowed by USAG to continue in the sport for years.[9]

Hundreds more alleged sexual assaults came to light in 2016, when the Indianapolis Star began publishing the results of a nine-month investigation into the sexual abuse of gymnasts and the role that USAG had played in them. The Star found that the abuses were widespread because "predatory coaches were allowed to move from gym to gym, undetected by a lax system of oversight, or dangerously passed on by USA Gymnastics-certified gyms".[14]

In 2018, Larry Nassar, who was the national team doctor through four Olympic cycles,[15] pleaded guilty to sexually abusing over 300 female athletes,[16] including Olympic gold medalists Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber. Following his sentencing, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) threatened to decertify USA Gymnastics unless the entire board resigned. USA Gymnastics complied and all 21 board members resigned on January 26.[17] Olympic medalist McKayla Maroney has filed a lawsuit alleging that USA Gymnastics paid her to keep silent about Nassar's abuse.[15] Gymnasts have called for those who protected Nassar, including in the USOPC and USA Gymnastics, to be held accountable for their actions.[18]

In 2016, a former US federal prosecutor was commissioned by USA Gymnastics to develop recommendations to reform its policies related to sexual misconduct; her report included 70 recommendations.[19] Among these was removing the "athlete representative" from the Olympic selection committee, so athletes would be less afraid to report abuses.[15]

USA Gymnastics cut ties with the Karolyi Ranch in the wake of the scandal, after several gymnasts said they had been abused by Nassar on the premises. The ranch, operated by Béla Károlyi and his wife, former national team coordinator Márta Károlyi, had been the official US Women's National Team Training Center since 2001.[15]

In 2016, Valeri Liukin, a Soviet Olympic medalist and owner of World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, replaced Marta Karolyi as the women's national team coordinator.[20] Liukin resigned from the position in 2018 due to his involvement the sex abuse scandal.[21]

On November 5, 2018, the USOPC announced that it was starting the process to decertify USAG as the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States.[22] One month later, USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy.[23][24][25][26] That same year, USAG adopted a new "mission": "creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes."

In February 2019, the USOPC halted its decertification efforts, citing USAG's declaration of bankruptcy.[27]

On February 19, 2019, USA Gymnastics appointed a new president and CEO: Li Li Leung, a former gymnast who had most recently served as a vice president at the National Basketball Association (NBA). Leung said she "was upset and angry to learn about the abuse and the institutions that let the athletes down. I admire the courage and strength of the survivors, and...will make it a priority to see that their claims are resolved."[28]

On October 31, 2020, then-US President, Donald Trump, signed the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act into law.[29] First introduced in the United States Senate on July 30, 2019 by Kansas Republican Senator, Jerry Moran, and co-sponsored by Connecticut Democratic Senator, Richard Blumenthal, the bill received bipartisan support and unanimously passed in the United States House of Representatives on October 29, 2020.[30][16] Under the new bill, athletes gained greater protection from abuse, including sexual abuse, by coaches and employees in Olympic and Paralympic sports in addition to greater representation in decision-making roles.[30] In the wake of the Larry Nassar revelations, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee increased funding for the United States Center for SafeSport from $4.5 million to $7.5 million in 2019 and began working on reform to fill at least half of seats on USOPC boards and committees with current and former athletes, including National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for individual sports, such as USA Gymnastics and USA Swimming, create better oversight of affiliated sports organizations, make it easier for athletes to report concerns, and provide greater budget transparency.[16] The Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act increased federation funding for the U.S. Center for SafeSport to $20 million, gave the USOPC exclusive authority to respond to sexual abuse and sexual allegations of misconduct within the USOPC and NGBs, established a bipartisan committee to do a complete review of the USOPC, and empowered the United States Congress to dissolve the USOPC and decertify NGBs if they fail to follow through on reforms.[16][29] Upon signature, Senator Moran and Senator Blumenthal issued a joint statement, crediting survivors, colleagues, and athlete advocates that traveled to Washington to share their stories and demand change, for making it possible.[29]

On February 25, 2021, the US state of Michigan charged former USA Gymnastics coach John Geddert with 24 felonies including human trafficking and forced labor, first degree sexual assault, second degree sexual assault, racketeering, and lying to police. Geddert was the US national team coach at the 2012 London Olympics and was closely affiliated with Larry Nassar. Geddert died by suicide the same day.[31]

On May 14, 2021, the United States Center for SafeSport suspended French coach Jean-Luc Cairon from all contact with athletes and USA Gymnastics member clubs & members while it conducts an investigation of allegations against him, and he was entered into the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database for allegations of misconduct.[32][33] Cairon was then arrested, released on bail, showed intent to flee the court's jurisdiction by leaving the United States, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison upon a guilty plea.[34] Cairon died in prison while serving out his sentence, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 60.[35]

In 2021, the USOPC decided not to decertify USAG as national governing body[4], citing the organization's reform efforts. That same year, USOPC and USAG settled the sex-abuse lawsuits for $380 million.[5]

The Women's Artistic programs include these events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.

The Elite Program consists of regional and national training programs and competitions designed for athletes aspiring to represent the United States in international competition. Athletes participate at Developmental, Open, Pre-Elite, and National Team training camps. Only athletes at the National Team level are called "elite gymnasts".[36] There are two Elite groups: Junior Elite (ages 11–15) and Senior Elite (ages 16+).

Annual elite-level competitions include the American Cup, U.S. Classic, and U.S. Championships, as well as multiple National Qualifying Meets throughout the year.[37] Junior and Senior National Teams are selected based on performance at the U.S. Championships. These athletes then compete at the World Championships. In Olympic years, elite gymnasts compete at the Summer Olympics.

In order to get to the elite level, a gymnast must pass both the elite compulsory and optional qualifiers. In elite compulsory qualifiers, gymnasts compete a basic routine designed by organizers to demonstrate that the gymnast has all the basic skills, including twists, handsprings, jumps, leaps, kips to cast handstand, giants, turns, and more. In elite optionals, the gymnast is evaluated for advanced skills and moves, such as pak saltos, releases, complex dismounts, multiple tucks/twists, double layouts, twisting vaults, and more. In optionals, gymnasts create their own routines.

The Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs) seeks to identify talented female gymnasts aged 7–10 for further training up to the elite level. State and regional evaluations are followed by a national test of physical abilities and basic gymnastics skills in October of each year. This is followed by a national training camp in December for those who qualify.[38]

The Olympics Hopefuls program (HOPEs) is a program to identify talented gymnasts, generally aged 11-14, and train them to an advanced level. In order to qualify for HOPEs, a gymnast must pass both the elite compulsory and optional qualifiers, and get a certain minimum score. HOPEs Elite gymnasts compete at elite meets, but not as a Junior Elite.

The Women's Development Program (previously the Junior Olympic program) provides training, evaluation, and competition opportunities to allow developing gymnasts to safely advance at their own pace through specific skill levels. Most competitive gymnasts advance through this system.

As of August 1, 2013, the levels are as follows.[39]

• Developmental levels 1–2: the most fundamental skills performed in a non-competitive, achievement-oriented environment
• Compulsory levels 3–5: progressively difficult skills performed competitively as standardized routines (all gymnasts at a given level perform the same routines)
• Optional levels 6–10: progressively difficult skills performed competitively in original routines

Skills are grouped by degree of difficulty and given the letter ratings A–E, with A denoting the easiest skills. Levels 6–8 have difficulty restrictions, in that a gymnast competing at one of these levels may not attempt skills above a certain level of difficulty (for example, level 6 and 7 gymnasts may only include A and B skills in their routines). Levels 9 and 10 have no such difficulty restrictions, although level 9 gymnasts may include only one D or E skill in any single routine.[40]

In addition to demonstrating the necessary skills, gymnasts must reach a minimum age to advance to the next level. For example, level 8 and 9 gymnasts must be at least 8 years old; level 10 gymnasts must be at least 9 years old. Regardless of age, all beginning gymnasts enter the program at level 1 and may advance through more than one level per year. Competitions for gymnasts at level 7 culminate in State Championships, level 8 at Regional Championships, level 9 at Eastern or Western Championships, and level 10 at Junior Olympic National Championships.[41]

Prior to August 1, 2013, the developmental levels were numbered 1–4, the compulsory levels 5–6, and the optional levels 7–10. The old levels 1 and 2 have been combined into the new level 1; level 7 has been split into the new levels 6 and 7; and the numbering of levels 3–6 have each been shifted down one level for the new system.[40]

The Xcel Program provides training and competition experience for gymnasts outside of the traditional Junior Olympic program. Its stated purpose is "to provide gymnasts of varying abilities and commitment levels, the opportunity for a rewarding gymnastics experience." Participants compete in individual and team competitions in Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond divisions, based on age and ability level.[42]