For the first time, Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt has recounted being sexually abused by Larry Nassar, the former doctor being sentenced in an Ingham County courtroom this week.
Wieber was the first survivor to speak on day four of proceedings before judge Rosemarie Aquilina.
She described the shame and confusion of being “brainwashed” by Nassar and USA Gymnastics.
Wieber says she first saw Nassar for sports injury treatments at the age of 8 and until the age of 18. She says the first time his treatment became sexual abuse was when she suffered a hamstring injury at the age of 14. "I would cringe at how uncomfortable it felt," she stated. "He did it time after time, appointment after appointment, convince me that it was helping my hamstring injury. And the worst part was I had no idea that he was sexually abusing me for his own benefit."
Wieber suffered a stress fracture in her shin after making the Olympic team in 2012. Nassar treated her there. Her pain left her unable to train as she would have liked, and she missed the chance to compete in the individual all-around event. Now, she questions if she received the proper treatment, saying “nobody was protecting us from being taken advantage of.”
Wieber concluded that the lack of accountability from USAG, the US Olympic Committee and MSU, Nassar’s former employer, left her and many others to remain “shameful, confused, and disappointed.”
Survivors are expected to continue speaking at the Nassar sentencing into next week.
