“Athlete A” is a Must-Watch (For Both Survivors & Allies)
Tigger Warning: The following piece and documentary details real stories of sexual abuse. Please feel welcome to not read or watch these if you are sensitive to this topic.
“Athlete A”. This was the alias given to a young girl who reported sexual assault claims against her then USA Gymnastics National Team Doctor and now convicted pedofile Larry Nassar. These claims were not reported to the FBI by ex-President Steve Penny until five weeks after her admission. She was only fifteen years old when the abuse began and, like so many other survivors, did not report Nassar’s actions because he guised them as “proper medical procedures'' and USA Gymnastics fostered an environment of fear that ultimately silenced victims’ stories.
Her name, however, is not “Athlete A”. It’s Maggie Nichols. And she is not just a survivor. She is a gold medal-winning gymnast who has earned a number of awards for her artistry in the sport. She is a daughter, a student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma, and one of five-hundred young women who took down the systemic disgrace of an institution who actively perpetrated violence against the young girls they broke their promise to protect. Nichols, like so many other survivors, is a hero for every woman who has lived through similar trauma.
The new documentary created by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk is now streaming on Netflix. It details the organization’s long history of covering up sexual abuse, weight-shaming, and cyberbullying of their athletes. And although many of the survivors first wanted to remain anonymous, Maggie Nichols later decided to reveal her identity.
Reflecting on her decision, she expressed, “It kind of took me a while to decide whether or not I want to come out publicly, but I came to the realization that if I did, I could help one person or even help hundreds of people. I saw other girls and other survivors come forward, and it inspired me to come forward. I’m really proud that I did.”
Rachael Denhollander, another young gymnast who survived Nassar’s abuse, explained in the documentary, “I didn’t know a lot when I was fifteen, but one thing I did know is that abuse victims aren’t treated well. They are mocked. They are questioned. They are blamed. They are shamed. And that does incredible damage to the healing process. I wish I could have dealt with it sixteen years ago. I don’t think I could have, but I can now.”
Honorably, Glamour Magazine beautifully summarized that “The case of Nichols and the hundreds of other women and girls who came forward to report their abuse was pivotal because it demanded our attention. Maggie Nichols, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Rachael Denhollander, Jamie Dantzscher—one after another after another, women chose to relive their trauma in order to make sure the next generation of girls wouldn’t have to. Their voices had power—and they secured justice.”
John C. Manly, the lawyer for the Nichols family, perfectly described in the documentary that “Now, what people don’t realize is that for almost every one of these girls, this is their first sexual experience. And when you take the ability to love and express love from somebody and take it away or damage it... it profoundly affects their psyche. And at the end of the day, that’s really what he did. He stole that part of them. And they’re all struggling to get it back.”
The stories of these young women and girls are so meaningful not only to me, but to every other survivor who feels the heavy weight of their experiences on their hearts every single day. It is in these stories that we find connection, resilience, bravery, and hope. And it is these qualities that help survivors continue to thrive, inspire, and persist through all that seems unsurvivable.