Athlete A

Tight knees, tight knees.

Head in, Abbie.

When I was young, my dream was always to go to the Olympics.

And so I always had that in the back of my head.

Guys, the goal is no arm circles on any of your sticks.

Only count the ones that are stuck cold, okay?

I just love gymnastics.

I love the drive that it gives me.

Carly, try not to stagger.

It teaches you to be strong, independent.

- Yep. Sorry. - It's okay.

Being able to fly through the air and do the things we do,

it's just so thrilling, and you get that adrenaline rush and...

You can't even explain it.

Maggie! Come on, Maggie! Go, Maggie!

Yeah!

I started gymnastics when I was three years old

because I was always climbing out of my crib

and climbing on the furniture and everything, so...

my parents put me in it, just be in a safer environment

where there's mats and coaches and stuff like that.

I liked the sport. I mean, I did it in high school.

I always watched it on TV, and I loved it.

And so I had this little girl, after three sons, and I put her in it.

So, yes, as a preschooler.

Right away, the coaches picked up on her.

They nabbed her up as a little girl, like in second grade.

I mean, she was the only ten-year-old

in the country that competed at Nationals.

You know, somebody drove her to the gym, maybe 45 minutes from here.

Come back, maybe go back to work,

pick up Maggie at the gym.

That was every day for years and years and years.

Here's Maggie Nichols, Level 10 junior from Twin City Twisters.

The goal was to try to be an elite gymnast

and to make the national team.

Did online school as well, so I could train more in the gym.

And this is probably one of my favorite leos. Um...

I love the white.

Like, I don't know what it is, but if it

has white on it, I just... I just love it.

I don't know why.

If you wanted to take the next step to make national team,

you need to be very strong, because gymnastics would be like...

you know, almost your whole life. I mean, it was almost my whole life.

You give up almost everything.

Now on balance beam for Twin City Twisters, Maggie Nichols!

When I asked you who impressed you,

in terms of who's coming up after Simone Biles,

you said Maggie Nichols was one.

Talking to her earlier this week,

she said she finally feels like she's in the mix.

USA Gymnastics took Maggie's Olympic dream away from her.

It was just so hurtful and so painful. Everything that happened.

We have fairly good ideas on...

what actually happened.

Evidence, I would say.

So you're watching justice happen in slow motion?

Well, hopefully justice.

Hopefully justice.

When we started reporting on the initial story,

this was really the most explosive story

that the USA Today Network has had in several years.

Yet it was coming out of the sticks, you know?

It was coming out of a small little newsroom.

Okay, what do we got?

Um, one of our sources who runs the popular blog...

Like everyone, I'd watch gymnastics during the Olympics,

and I had witnessed some of the stars, you know, over the years.

USA Gymnastics was an organization in this town,

but I really didn't know a lot about what was going on behind the scenes.

So, you know, what that culture was like was new to me and, uh...

and we sort of were plunged into it.

Every four years, it's our time to shine.

Our moment.

When the toughest sport in the world

takes its rightful place on the world's biggest stage.

The moment when the brightest spotlight shines

on the best athletes these United States have to offer.

Every four years...

starts right now.

It is one of the most in-demand events at the Olympics,

and it could be historic.

In 1996, there was a Magnificent Seven.

In 2012, a Fierce Five.

This group will make a name for themselves tonight one way or the other.

As the Summer Olympics gets underway in Rio,

an IndyStar USA Today Network investigation

unveils a possible sexual abuse scandal at USA Gymnastics.

It alleges the organization has a policy that may have harmed child athletes.

I had been working on an investigation

into failure to report sexual abuse in schools.

We'd had a number of local cases in Indiana.

And so, as I was looking at a broader piece on,

why does this seem to keep happening?

Why do people not report as they're required to do?

A source suggested that I look at USA Gymnastics

and how they handle sexual abuse allegations.

And that source pointed me toward a lawsuit

involving a predatory coach...

who had moved from gym to gym to gym,

despite warning signs about his conduct.

You'll have to edit it just a bit.

One coach was shown to have abused a young gymnast

after USA Gymnastics had been warned about him years earlier.

In the file, one complaint said,

"This coach needs to be put in a cage before he rapes somebody."

Uh, USA Gymnastics did nothing.

As we were pursuing this investigation,

we got access to these depositions

with current and former high-ranking USA Gymnastics officials

that described their policy for how they handled these allegations.

Mr. Penny, uh, you are the president currently of USA Gymnastics?

Yes.

If you receive a complaint of sexual misconduct,

whether it be by a professional member or

anyone that has a membership with USAG,

do you turn it over to local authorities?

No.

Okay.

We don't turn over a complaint.

For the first time, it showed USA Gymnastics had a policy

of not reporting all allegations to authorities.

That they would dismiss allegations as hearsay

unless they were signed by a victim, a victim's parent,

or an eyewitness to the abuse.

And we found USA Gymnastics had sexual abuse complaint files

on 54 coaches.

And if there was no signed statement

by the victim or the victim's parent, they just tucked it in a folder

and stuffed it in Steve Penny's filing cabinet.

And then those coaches went on to molest other children.

Get the gold medals ready again.

That is an Olympic gold medal-winning moment.

As athletes are gathering in Rio,

a stunning report from The Indianapolis Star

and USA Today Network dominated this day.

The paper is reporting that, on multiple occasions,

USA Gymnastics compiled complaints of coaches accused of sexual misconduct

but refused to share the information with police,

most often dismissing it as hearsay,

because the complaints were not made by the victims,

those young athletes, or their parents.

In a statement, Steve Penny, the president of USA Gymnastics,

said the organization is quote, "Committed

to promoting a safe environment,"

and noted quote, "We feel The Star left out significant facts

that would have painted a more accurate picture."

I was cleaning my kitchen,

and I had two babies that were 13 months apart.

And they were both fussy,

and so I had my baby strapped to me.

I was wearing her while I cleaned the kitchen.

And I needed to make a shopping list, so I opened my computer

and Facebook was up,

and trending in the news section was the headline for the IndyStar article.

It was a complete accident that I even saw it.

But I clicked on it, and I read it right away.

And the first thought was, "I was right."

They've been burying sexual abuse. I was right.

And this is it.

Now's the time.

"If it's ever going to come out, it's going to come out now."

On the morning of publication of that first story...

we got an e-mail from Rachael Denhollander.

And she wrote, "My abuse wasn't by a coach,

but it was by a famous doctor.

And if they're covering things up for the coaches,

I think they would be covering it up for him."

And that was the first time

I had heard there could be something wrong with Larry Nassar.

Hi, Mr. Alesia. My name is Jessica Howard.

I just wanted to call you as a follow-up to your story.

Um, I am very nervous about talking to you about it, but...

I think it would help...

bring justice to a lot of the people

who have been affected by USA Gymnastics and their policies.

Thank you. Bye.

When the...

story came out in 2016...

Nassar just came back into my head.

When something hits you like...

that realization that it was sexual abuse...

and you haven't known, haven't thought about it...

it becomes...

so real.

Like it was yesterday.

Like it just happened to you. Like you are 15.

My head started kind of like spinning a little bit.

I've never told anybody, but...

I was like, "Wait a minute...

this doctor used to do very similar things to me."

At that point, I was...

still scared, but...

I was thinking, "If he is a pedophile..."

And I...

"don't do something about it, I can't live with that."

I was approached by Jamie Dantzscher,

who was a 2000 Olympian.

And she told me