I finally got a chance to watch the full Dateline NBC episode about the USA Gymnastics scandal. I was shocked by what I heard, but I wasn't really surprised. In fact, the interviews didn't reveal anything people didn't suspect already. Which doesn't make what happened any less disturbing.
"How much did USA Gymnastics know?" That's the question that has surrounded this entire disgusting affair. Well, it seems to me that USA Gymnastics knew a lot. And they did nothing about this toxic environment. Their biggest concern wasn't stopping it. It was keeping it quiet. As a result, these victims were silenced for far too long.
USA Gymnastics deserves a good deal of the blame. To call the federation "enablers" would be an understatement. These young gymnasts were winning them medals, which was the only thing that seemed to matter. And the athletes were really caught in a no-win situation. Because if they talked, their chances of making the national team would be all but gone. So they didn't have a choice other than to take it.
Whether the two are mutually exclusive is something that remains to be seen, and it will be a very interesting thing to watch as we reach the midpoint of the 2016-20 Olympic cycle. The U.S. women have become the most dominant gymnastics team in the world. All credit for that has to go to the athletes, especially since they were succeeding despite the conditions they had to deal with. But with all the turmoil surrounding USA Gymnastics since Rio, you have to wonder whether that dominance will continue.
Part of the reason the U.S. women developed into a gymnastics power, of course, was the centralized National Team Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch outside Houston. That's why the interview with Bela and Martha Karolyi was the one I really wanted to see. Because, whether or not they were directly involved (which I highly doubt they were), it happened under their watch. They shoulder a good portion of the blame for what happened, too.
The Karolyis definitely seemed to acknowledge their culpability, even if it was somewhat reluctantly. They admitted to being demanding while denying some of the other allegations about the treatment of gymnasts at the ranch. However, it also seems painfully clear that the atmosphere they created made it easier for a predator to get away with it. And that might be the Karolyis' biggest fault in this whole sordid affair.
What's still unclear is the degree to which they knew what was going on in their midst. Martha pointed out that her job was National Team Coordinator. She was responsible for choosing the best gymnasts and preparing them for international events. USA Gymnastics leased the property, and the USA Gymnastics employees present (which included the team doctors) didn't report to her. But they were still the owners of the property, and they had to hear the grumblings. Which is enough for guilt by association at the very least.
Are the Karolyis the Joe Paterno in this situation? It's hard to say, but I don't think so. It seems to me that they took the "ignorance is bliss" approach. Was that the right thing to do? Absolutely not. But they weren't responsible for what happened, either.
Rather, I think the party most responsible for allowing what happened to continue for so long was USA Gymnastics. There were complaints as far back as 2011, yet USA Gymnastics claimed it didn't learn of any accusations until nearly four years later, and the FBI wasn't contacted until after the 2016 Olympics. Meanwhile, USA Gymnastics was trying to save face, keep the circle small, and keep it quiet. And that behavior is simply inexcusable.
Not only are these gymnasts no longer being silenced, they're telling the whole story. We're hearing every shocking detail and being left shaking our heads as to how this could happen. To so many athletes. For so long.
They'll never get back what was taken from them. But at least now they have a voice. It's not much, but it's something.
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