Simone Biles is getting ready to compete in the U.S Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Mo. this weekend, and Wednesday night she met with reporters after her training session. When she was asked about how she feels to be competing under the USA Gymnastics banner after the organization failed to protect Biles and its other athletes from Larry Nassar, she had this to say:
“It’s hard coming here for an organization, having had them fail us so many times,” Biles said. “We have done everything that they asked us for, even when we didn’t want to do, and they couldn’t do one damn job. You had one job. You literally had one job, and you couldn’t protect us.”
Biles went on to say that she still feels hesitant when visiting USA Gymnastics trainers and doctors in order to receive treatment.
This is a manifestation of just one of the many reasons why USA Gymnastics should no longer exist. No matter how much it tries to argue that it has reformed itself and won’t make the same mistakes again—and those arguments aren’t exactly convincing—it will never be in a position to earn back the trust of its athletes. How could they ever trust an organization that failed them in this specific way?