Getty Images.
Simon Biles revivió el calvario que sufrió por los abusos de un doctor de la USA Gymnastics.
Estados Unidos está en estado de shock tras las revelaciones de la gimnasta Simone Biles, cuatro veces campeona olímpica. La joven de 23 años contó en una entrevista el calvario que padeció, y aún padece, tras haber sido abusada sexualmente por un médico de la USA Gymnastics, el reconocido doctor Larry Nassar.
Sus declaraciones fueron hechas en una entrevista publicada por la revista Vogue. Su testimonio es clave para dejar en evidencia que las autoridades de la federación de gimnasia de los Estados Unidos estaban al tanto de lo que le había ocurrido a varias de sus atletas y sin embargo no tomaron ninguna medida con tal de evitar el escándalo mediático.
Para Biles, el valor de denunciar su propia experiencia le llegó tras ver un documental de Netflix. En ‘Atleta A’, su colega Maggie Nichols exponía un escándalo por abusos sexuales que involucraba a Larry Nassar.
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In recent years, August cover star @simonebiles's rise has taken place against a horrific backdrop. The revelation that Larry Nassar sexually abused hundreds of gymnasts, including all five members of the 2012 Olympic team and four of the five members of the 2016 team, was the first horror. Then it became clear that Nassar had enablers—at Michigan State, where he was on faculty, but also at USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Amid the fallout, Biles emerged as a powerful check on her sport’s governing body. She is the only Olympic gymnast who disclosed abuse by Nassar and continued competing at the elite level. Her willingness to speak out from within the sport has made her an even bigger hero and invited yet more comparisons to iconic athletes with iron moral codes, like Muhammad Ali, though even this parallel is inexact. Sexual abuse inflicts a uniquely isolating mix of stigma and shame. And that’s what this issue's cover story was supposed to have been about: an athlete of unprecedented dominance returning to the Olympics, where to compete at all she has to represent the very organizations that wronged her, and which she has spent the last two years staring down. But then something even more unprecedented happened. The Olympics—well, they disappeared. Overnight, years of carefully laid plans were thrown into limbo. Tap the link in our bio to read the full profile. Photographed in Feb. 2020 by @annieleibovitz, styled by @phyllis_posnick, written by @abbyaguirre, Vogue, August 2020
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“Cuando leí lo que dijo Maggie fue un duro golpe para mí, porque me di cuenta de que había sufrido el mismo trato. Recuerdo buscar en Google ‘abuso sexual’. Porque sé que algunas chicas lo pasaron mucho peor que yo. Lo sé con total seguridad. Así que sentí que yo no había sido abusada, porque no era en la misma medida que las otras chicas. Algunos de mis amigas lo pasaron muy, muy mal. Eran sus favoritas. Como mi caso no era así, sentí que no sucedió”, inició su testimonio.
“Sentía que lo sabía, simplemente no quería admitírmelo a mí misma, que aquello había ocurrido. Porque pensaba, no que tuviera que ser perfecta, pero sí que lo que América quería que yo fuera era eso, perfecta. Porque cada vez que un estadounidense gana los Juegos Olímpicos, se convierte en el novio o novia de América. Así que yo pensaba: ‘¿Cómo puede pasarle esto a una novia de América?”
“Estaba muy deprimida. Dormí mucho porque, para mí, era lo más parecido a la muerte sin dañarme. Fue un escape de todos mis pensamientos, del mundo, de lo que estaba sucediendo”, agregó.
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Introducing @simonebiles’s exclusive digital cover for our August issue. With the 2020 Olympics postponed and a shadow hung over American gymnastics, Biles–who is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time—has had to be resilient as never before. When Biles was first photographed in February and interviewed in March for this cover story, America was also a different place. Since then, the coronavirus pandemic has upended regular patterns of life and #BlackLivesMatter protests have occurred from coast to coast. “We need justice for the Black community. With the peaceful protests it’s the start of change, but it’s sad that it took all of this for people to listen,” Biles said. “Racism and injustice have existed for years with the Black community.” At the link in our bio, Vogue reports on a champion looking ahead. Photographed in Feb. 2020 by @annieleibovitz, styled by @phyllis_posnick, written by @abbyaguirre, Vogue, August 2020
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Biles además cuestionó fuertemente al Comité Olímpico y Paralímpico estadounidense (USOPC), otro organismo que ocultó las denuncias contra Nassar. Tanto USOPC como la federación ofrecieron 194 millones de dólares a las víctimas para que no fueran involucrados.
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@simonebiles stars on the cover of our August issue! With the 2020 Olympics postponed and a shadow hung over American gymnastics, Biles–who is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time—has had to be resilient as never before. When Biles was first photographed in February and interviewed in March for this cover story, America was also a different place. Since then, the coronavirus pandemic has upended regular patterns of life and #BlackLivesMatter protests have occurred from coast to coast. “We need justice for the Black community. With the peaceful protests it’s the start of change, but it’s sad that it took all of this for people to listen,” Biles said. “Racism and injustice have existed for years with the Black community.” At the link in our bio, Vogue reports on a champion looking ahead. Photographed in Feb. 2020 by @annieleibovitz, styled by @phyllis_posnick, written by @abbyaguirre, Vogue, August 2020
A post shared by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on Jul 9, 2020 at 6:01am PDT
Se estima que más de 350 mujeres sufrieron abusos por parte de Nassar. El médico recibió una sentencia de cadena perpetua efectiva por un tribunal de Michigan en 2018. Doce de esos casos pudieron confirmarse en sede judicial. Además está cumpliendo una pena de prisión de 60 años por una condena federal por pornografía infantil.
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