The true story of the USA Gymnastics abuse scandal behind Netflix doc ‘Athlete A’

Netflix has just released its latest true crime documentary, called Athlete A, which explores the life and crimes of former gymnast doctor Larry Nassar.

Larry Nassar was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of young gymnasts whilst working at USA Gymnastics. The documentary includes powerful testimonials from survivors and the claims made against him.

Netflix documentary Athlete A is all about the crimes of former gymnast doctor Larry Nassar

The Athlete A documentary focuses on the gymnasts who survived USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s abuse and the reporters who exposed USAG’s toxic culture.

Larry Nassar is the former USA Gymnastics team doctor and physician at Michigan State University. He began working for USA Gymnastics in 1986 and served as the national medical coordinator from 1996 until 2014. During his time here he would examine the young female gymnasts, and it was at these appointments where he would abuse them. When he was working as the physician he would be treating young girls with muscle injuries, and he was accused of sexually assaulting a number of these girls.

After allegations against Larry Nassar were reported by The Indianapolis Star in September 2016, he was fired by Michigan State for violating the 2014 agreement. After he was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, his wife Stephanie Nassar filed for divorce and in July 2017 gained full custody of their three children.

In the Netflix documentary it is said that in the years following, survivors of Larry Nassar’s abuse were made to sign NDAs to keep the story quiet. It’s also claimed that gymnasts were told if they continued to make complaints, they would be ditched from the team.

In 2018 Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in jail

Since the first article about Larry Nassar was published in The Indianapolis Star, over 500 survivors have come forward – including nine Olympians.

Larry Nassar made a plea deal, he agreed to plead guilty to child pornography charges in an agreement to dismiss charges of travelling with intent to commit a sexual assault overseas. In July 2017, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges and in January 2018, he received another sentence of up to 175 years in a Michigan state prison on sexual abuse charges.

The BBC reported in February 2018 that he had been jailed for another 40 to 125 years for crimes against young gymnasts. This meant his sentence is now said to be at least 300 years. His state prison sentences are to run consecutively with his federal sentence, basically confirming that he will die in prison.

To protect their identities, one of the survivors was referred to as “Athlete A” but in court her statement read: “I want everyone to know that he did not do this to Athlete A, he did it to me, Maggie Nichols.”

The US Department of Justice is currently investigating USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic committee and the FBI for their handling of sexual abuse allegations made by athletes.

Larry Nassar is currently serving his prison sentence at the Coleman II US Penitentiary in Florida. He was reportedly moved from prison in Tuscon, Arizona, in May 2018 after being assaulted by other inmates.

Athlete A is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• New Netflix true crime series ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ explores 12 cold cases

• The true story of Netflix’s The Search: The four-year-old who went missing from bed

• The 21 best true crime series on Netflix right now for real addicts