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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Suzanne Wrack in Rotterdam

The sexual assault scandal rocked gymnastics – but has pace of change in the sport been too slow?

Gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols pose dramatically mid-routine in sparkly leotards
Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols are among many to have suffered abuse in the scandal that rocked gymnastics. Composite: Guardian Pictures; NurPhoto/Getty Images; Getty Images; Corbis/Getty Images

It has been 10 years since the Indianapolis Star published allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, setting off a chain of events that would lead to a reckoning for the sport. Hundreds of women came forward with their own allegations against Nassar, who also worked at Michigan State University, leading to his conviction and jailing.

The exposure of his crimes sparked a wider investigation into how gymnastics had allowed predators to abuse young athletes around the world. While Nassar was the worst recorded case, it emerged many other countries had questions to answer about the failure to protect victims from not only sexual but physical and emotional abuse. But a decade later, on a large houseboat moored in Rotterdam three tram stops away from the Ahoy Arena, where the World Gymnastics Championships are taking place this week, survivors and advocates raised fears about the slow pace of change.

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