Leung believes the nationwide governing physique has made optimistic strides, evolving from the model of itself that failed to defend athletes from many years of abuse by former nationwide staff physician Larry Nassar. Leung admits to previous missteps and acknowledges the necessity to rebuild belief however believes she and others at USA Gymnastics have the proper intentions, prioritizing athlete well being and security.
The group settled its lawsuit with survivors of Nassar’s abuse final yr and is now heading into this week’s U.S. nationwide championships in Tampa, a marquee occasion for elite gymnasts, for the primary time since that key authorized decision. The nationwide staff not too long ago started working beneath a restructured management mannequin that diffuses energy from a single coach. And amid hopes of far-reaching cultural change — buying and selling the domineering, fear-based teaching types of the previous for wholesome and optimistic strategies — Leung believes the United States can keep its aggressive success in girls’s gymnastics. That’s why she’s right here, main the game from an eighth-floor nook workplace in downtown Indianapolis.
A former elite gymnast, Leung watched, disillusioned, as her sport started to unravel in 2016 when Nassar’s abuse turned public. While working in an government function on the NBA, she waited for progress. “And then it never really got better,” Leung mentioned.
She felt compelled to volunteer, maybe as a board member or guide. When she reached out, she was pointed towards the vacant CEO place. What began as an settlement to speak with the recruiter — “I might be able to point them in the right direction to find someone,” she thought — was her making use of for the function.
After taking up, Leung ushered USA Gymnastics to a long-awaited decision within the authorized struggle with the survivors of Nassar’s abuse. The settlement reached in December requires the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and their insurers to pay the survivors $380 million.
At the game’s headquarters, the settlement and ensuing capacity to exit bankruptcy — which USA Gymnastics entered as a result of, Leung has mentioned, “that was the most efficient process that was provided to [the board of directors] in order to resolve the litigation” — permits the governing physique to take a step out from beneath that lingering cloud.
It additionally opens the door for extra direct dialogue with survivors, now not sure by authorized hurdles. Conversations with gymnasts previous and current can occur formally by the Athletes’ Council and different committees or informally with athletes reaching out to Leung. Tasha Schwikert Moser, a 2000 Olympian, now fills a seat on the board devoted to a survivor of Nassar’s abuse — a dedication mandated by the settlement.
“The past is really critical to who we will become and who we are becoming as an organization going forward,” Leung mentioned in an interview final month. “I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for what had happened. … And I think that a lot of people felt that they wanted to do some good work in the sport, and that’s what drove them to be here.”
No organizations are immune to criticism, Leung mentioned, so she expects there’ll all the time be some, however “we know that our intent is the right intent, and we know we’re doing the right things to effectuate positive change in the sport.” With that as the main focus, she mentioned: “Ultimately, we’ll get to the point where the masses or the majority will come around. And we’re getting there. We’re rounding the corner, and people are starting to really believe in the change that we’re making.”
USA Gymnastics had continued management crises within the years previous Leung’s arrival. Steve Penny, the USA Gymnastics president from 2005 to 2017 who was in cost throughout the group’s bungled response to gymnasts’ reviews of Nassar’s abuse, resigned and later confronted costs of proof tampering, which had been dismissed this yr. His two successors had transient tenures: Kerry Perry, employed in 2017, lasted simply 9 months within the function, and Mary Bono, a former member of Congress, resigned after lower than per week because the interim CEO. Both departed amid missteps and controversy.
Leung’s hiring didn’t finish the skepticism: Some survivors, according to the Indianapolis Star, felt ignored within the course of, and Leung’s advertising and marketing background matched the previous experiences of Penny and Perry. But Leung believes her time as an elite gymnast gives useful perspective. She can relate to athletes with vivid recollections from her aggressive profession. An Olympian advised Leung, “You’re like one of us,” which she thought-about a significant praise.
The group has a handful of different former gymnasts in key positions, and Leung adjusted the nationwide staff management mannequin to a three-person committee somewhat than one all-powerful individual.
USA Gymnastics initially posted the place as a solo job, however, Leung mentioned, the group’s management determined “it was too much pressure on the shoulders of one individual and there also wasn’t one individual who could serve in every capacity that that role needed to fulfill.” When the function modified from one job to three, curiosity within the positions grew.
In saying these new hires — 2008 Olympians Alicia Sacramone Quinn (strategic lead) and Chellsie Memmel (technical lead), together with Dan Baker, who remained in his publish with a barely totally different title because the developmental lead — USA Gymnastics, once more, confronted some backlash.
Olympian McKayla Maroney has said that, when she talked about particulars of Nassar’s abuse to different gymnasts throughout the 2011 world championships, “an older teammate I looked up to” chastised her for mentioning it. In the e book “Start By Believing,” an account of Nassar’s crimes and the institutional failures, Jordyn Wieber, a gymnast reportedly current throughout this trade, identifies that teammate as Sacramone Quinn, who was 23 years previous on the time. Sacramone Quinn, a 10-time world medalist and captain of the 2008 silver-winning Olympic staff, says she doesn’t keep in mind that incident.
When requested in regards to the allegation in a news convention, Sacramone Quinn mentioned: “[If] a situation like that happens again, obviously first thing we’re doing is reporting it to authorities. We’re going to talk to the parties involved — the athlete, the coach, the parent — and get everybody on the same page, and we’re going to be making steps in the right direction to get that taken care of immediately. It’s not something we sit on. It’s not something we take lightly. … I would never want anything like that to even remotely even be possible to happen again.”
Leung mentioned candidates are fastidiously vetted and the group “would never bring someone on board that we’re not comfortable with in terms of their actions of the past.”
Sacramone Quinn, a longtime member of the nationwide staff beneath Martha Karolyi, mentioned she remembers a “fear-driven” surroundings. Now as a frontrunner of this system, she desires athletes to respect the employees however really feel impressed to excel somewhat than intimidated.
“My goal, yes, is to get them to the best level of gymnastics they can be, but I want to help them shape who they are as people,” she mentioned. “And so when they walk away from elite gymnastics, they’re like: ‘Man, that was a great experience. People actually cared about me, not just my gymnastics but me as a person.’ ”
The nationwide staff members are essentially the most outstanding athletes, however the governing physique is answerable for all members of USA Gymnastics — beginning with younger gymnasts in grass-roots packages. Policies are designed and developed, Leung mentioned, for all the neighborhood, together with instructional assets and necessities, in addition to the introduction of a chosen “Safety Champion” in any respect member golf equipment. Leung views these contained in the group as “stewards of the sport.”
The Nassar scandal additionally forged a highlight on the ability imbalances and the emotional abuse of coaches throughout the sport that helped allow a predator. Cultural change can stem from schooling and necessities coming from the highest of the governing physique, however it additionally requires the buy-in of coaches at golf equipment across the nation.
“It’s up to us to be the role model and to lead that change as well,” Leung mentioned. “It starts with the organization, and it also starts with our national team staff. The reason why we put together the new high performance team that we did is because they also believe in that philosophy.”
As USA Gymnastics is within the early levels of planning a brand new coaching and wellness middle, Leung envisions a facility that’s the “hub and the heart of gymnastics in America,” she mentioned — not a fitness center the place prime athletes will prepare in secrecy, which is how the Karolyi Ranch and former girls’s nationwide staff coaching middle operated.
“We want this place to be a really, really welcoming environment for gymnasts for all levels,” Leung mentioned, “and for gymnasts to be able to come and see their role models train and some place that will be a central point of education as well.”
National staff camps, Sacramone Quinn and Baker mentioned, have a little bit of a extra relaxed really feel. But athletes nonetheless need to win and perceive that requires work. And Leung believes aggressive excellence and optimistic experiences can coexist.
How a lot has modified may not be absolutely identified till athletes from this era have retired from the game and really feel comfy talking overtly about any points. With the aggressive aims largely unchanged, the group hopes to transform the trail towards them.