United States Olympic gymnast Simone Biles testifies during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General's report on the FBI's handling of the Larry Nassar investigation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in Washington. Nassar was charged in 2016 with federal child pornography offenses and sexual abuse charges in Michigan. He is now serving decades in prison after hundreds of girls and women said he sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment when he worked for Michigan State and Indiana-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP) (Saul Loeb)
Gold medalist Simone Biles and other star gymnasts testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the investigation into Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of girls and women.
Biles, who has won 25 world championship medals and seven Olympic medals for Team USA, said in her opening statement that she believes the abuse happened because organizations created by Congress to protect her as an athlete — USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee — “failed to do their jobs.”
“I don’t want another young gymnast, or Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that I and hundreds of others have endured before, during and continuing to this day in the wake of the Larry Nassar abuse,” said Biles, her voice choking with emotion.
US Olympic gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols arrive to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General's report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts, on Capitol Hill, September 15, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: US Olympic gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols arrive to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General's report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts, on Capitol Hill, September 15, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: US Olympic gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols arrive to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General's report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts, on Capitol Hill, September 15, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: US Olympic gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols arrive to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General's report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts, on Capitol Hill, September 15, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)
Biles, along with McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman, appeared on the first panel during a Sept. 15 hearing on the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Nassar. The second panel will include Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The four gymnasts appeared in person, according to an aide to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
In a 119-page report released in July, Horowitz said the FBI failed to, in a timely manner, interview victims who said that Nassar had molested them. The FBI’s Indianapolis field office made “fundamental errors,” Horowitz said, by failing to notify other FBI offices or state or local authorities.
