Posting to Twitter yesterday, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has revealed that she was sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Biles took to Twitter to share her experiences, as a way to relieve herself from the immeasurable pain she has endured since the initial interaction with Nassar occurred.
Biles recounts her inner struggle in trying to come forward and publicly acknowledge the distress and mental uneasiness she endured after being initially abused by Nassar. In her tweet, the athlete recalls how "It is not normal to receive any type of treatment from a trusted team physician and refer to it horrifying as the "special" treatment."
Elsewhere in the tweet, Biles recalls the mentally-taxing process of trying to come forward with her past in order to break down her self-imposed barriers and reveal her troubled story. Biles writes how "For too long I asked myself, "Was I too naive?" Was it my fault?" I now know the answers to those questions. No. No, it is not my fault."
Nassar has been taken to court over the allegations pinned against him, as other female athletes ended their silence, and revealed that they were victims of the now disgraced physician's abusive demeanour. Nassar was eventually sentenced to 60 years in prison for possessing images containing child abuse, effectively insuring that 54 year-old will spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement.