Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber speaks at Nassar sentencing

thank you thank you for being here did you please state and spell your name for the record Jordyn Wieber J Ord YN w IE ber thank you what would you like me to know I first wanna thank you for allowing us to speak here I thought that training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do but in fact the hardest thing I've ever had to do is process that I'm a victim of play announcer it has caused me to feel shame and confusion and I spent months trying to think back on my experience and wonder how I didn't even know this was happening to me and how I became so brainwashed by Larry and everyone at USA Gymnastics both whom I thought were supposed to be on my side a third thing Larry now saw at the age of 8 right here in my hometown of Lansing he was known as the best gymnastics doctor in the world everyone in my club on the u.s. national team and across the country saw Larry and everyone said the same thing he was a miracle worker and he could fix just about anything I was treated by Larry for any and all of my injuries from ages 8 to 18 and it wasn't long before he had gained my trust he became a safe person of sorts into my teenage self he appeared to be the good guy in an environment that was intense and restricting he would try to advise me on how to deal with the stresses of training or my coaches he would bring us food and coffee at the Olympics when we were too afraid to eat too much in front of our coaches I didn't know that these are all grooming techniques that he used to manipulate me and brainwash me into trusting him and when I was 14 years old I tore my hamstring and my right leg this is when he started performing the procedure that we're all now familiar with I would cringe at how uncomfortable it felt he did it time after time appointment after appointment convinced 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 I knew it felt strange but he was the national team doctor he was I had a question his treatments are even more risk my chance at making the Olympic team or being chosen to compete internationally and after all he was recommended by the national team staff and he treated us monthly and all of our national team camps I had even talked to my teammates Aly Raisman and mckayla maroney about this treatment and how uncomfortable it made us feel none of us really understood it after I made the Olympic team I suffered a stress fracture in my right shin it was extremely painful to tumble and land using my legs but I fought through the pain because it was the Olympics and I know it would be probably my only shot yes ma'am our bodies were all hanging by a thread when we were in London who was the doctor that USAG sent keep us healthy and help us get through the doctor that was our abuser the doctor that is a child molester because of my shin I couldn't train without being an extreme pain and it affected the number of routines I could do to prepare before the competition and ultimately it made me feel less prepared than I should have been I didn't qualified it all around competition and I went through a dark time right before we've owned the team gold now I question everything about that injury and the medical treatment I received was Larry even doing anything to help my pain was I getting the proper medical care or was he only focused on which one of us he was gonna pray on next what was he think about when he massaged my sore muscles every day now I question everything to this day I still don't know how he could have been allowed to do this for so long my teammates and I were subjected to his medical care every single month at the National Team Training Center in Texas he was the only male allowed to be present in the athlete dorm rooms to do whatever treatments he wanted he was allowed to treat us in hotel rooms alone without any supervision he took photos of us during training and whenever else he wanted nobody was protecting us from being taken advantage of nobody was even concerned whether or not we were being sexually abused I was not protected and neither were my teammates my parents trusted USA Gymnastics and Larry now start to take care of me and we were betrayed by both and now the lack of accountability from u.s. AG usoc and Michigan State have caused me and many other girls to remain shameful confused and disappointed I'm angry with myself for not recognizing the abuse and that's something I'm struggling with today but even though I'm a victim I do not and will not live my life as one I'm an Olympian despite being abused I worked so hard and managed to achieve my goal but I want everyone especially the media to know that despite my athletic achievements I am one of over a hundred and forty women and survivors whose story is important our pain is all the same and our stories are all important and now the people who are responsible need to accept responsibility for the pain they have caused me and the rest of the women who have been abused Larry Nassar is accountable USA Gymnastics is accountable the US Olympic Committee is accountable my teammates and friends have been through enough and now it's time for change because the current and future gymnasts do not deserve to and anxiety fear or be unprotected like I was thank you people will listen to you I've listened to you you are really very strong not just as an athlete but as a woman as a survivor I know you'll get past this because of that strength because you had the strength to come here and talk it's really important because what you're doing is helping to set a new precedent that all victim survivors should speak out and that all victims have a right to speak out and your young self did not know that but you have already with what you've done in our community and so many others and in the world molded so many young minds and people what you've just done now is equally important it may be more important because they will listen to you it will speak out like you they want to be you you have nothing to be ashamed about I'm so honored that you came to tell your story here today thank you thank you [Applause]

Channel: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7

Views: 657,420

Keywords: larry nassar sentencing, larry nassar victim impact statements, jordyn wieber larry nassar, aly raisman larry nassar, jordyn wieber impact statement, aly raisman nassar impact statement

Id: 5imcGgdCWVI

Length: 7min 51sec (471 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2018