Simone Biles hopes speaking out against sexual abuse inspires others
Tuesday 19 March 2019 13:11, UK
Four-time US Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles hopes her courage to speak out against the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of disgraced doctor Larry Nassar will help others avoid feeling alone.
In January 2018, Nassar, team USA's doctor for 18 years, was sentenced to up to 175 years after he was reported by more than 150 women for sexual abuse.
Biles, 22, was one of his victims and, shortly before Nassar was sentenced, tweeted about her sexual assault.
She wrote: "It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart even more to think that, as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I was abused."
Asked if her platform gives her a huge role to speak out, Biles told Sportswomen: "I think it does.
"I think the huge athlete I am and the following that we have, social media gives us platform to speak out on those times.
"Hopefully it will reach out to other kids and adults and have an impact and make them them feel like they are not in it alone."
Biles has won 25 World and Olympic medals since her first success at the World Championships in Antwerp six years ago.
Tennis star Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, told TIME magazine she wished she could have been like Biles when she was younger, saying "I feel like she's 35 years old, mentally. She's just so incredible."
Asked about Williams' comments, she said: "It's huge. She's a sports icon and has been one of my role models for forever.
"So to get to know her, to meet her, and for her to say those things about me, makes me feel like I've made an impact. And that I've almost made it."
Biles, along with Max Whitlock, will feature in Superstars of Gymnastics on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Mix. Biles and Whitlock will perform, then join an all-star panel to judge the other routines.
