Olympian Jordyn Wieber to testify on Nassar abuse to Senate panel

By Todd Spangler
Detroit Free Press
April 18, 2018

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/04/18/jordyn-wieber-testimony-nassar/527490002/

Jordyn Wieber will testify before a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday afternoon .

Former gymnast Jamie Dantzscher confronts Larry Nassar Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina's courtroom. Photo by MATTHEW DAE SMITH

WASHINGTON — Michigan-born gymnast and Olympic gold medal winner Jordyn Wieber will testify before a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday afternoon a day after filing a lawsuit over sexual abuse involving former Michigan State sports doctor Larry Nassar.

Wieber on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in a California state court against Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and others involving abuse at the hands of Nassar, who had been a renowned sports doctor for gymnasts.

A native of DeWitt, Wieber is set to talk Wednesday afternoon to a Senate subcommittee at a hearing entitled “Olympic Abuse: The Role of National Governing Bodies in Protecting Our Athletes.” The hearing in Washington will also be streamed live at www.commerce.senate.gov.

Another Olympic gymnast who says she was abused by Nassar, Jamie Dantzscher, is set to testify as well.

The subcommittee's chairman, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said in a statement, “As part of the subcommittee’s ongoing investigation, we have invited athletes representing multiple sports to testify at our first hearing. We appreciate the willingness of these athletes – who share in our determination to root out abuse in youth sport governing bodies – to share their stories and aid in our investigation to protect all (U.S. Olympic Committee) athletes, at all levels, in all sports.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the panel's ranking Democrat, called the hearing "a critical step forward in our investigation into the serious systemic abuses across generations of young athletes." At least three congressional committees or subcommittees are believed to be looking into athlete abuse in the wake of the Nassar case.

With her lawsuit Tuesday, Wieber became one of more than 260 people suing MSU, USA Gymnastics or others in connection with Nassar. Wieber claimed that USA Gymnastics, in particular, made what she called "a corporate decision" to get rid of records in order to mask Nassar's acts.

Wieber formerly testified at a sentencing hearing against Nassar in Ingham County and is one of more than 200 girls or young woman to speak of abuse at his hands. The former sports doctor is serving a 60-year sentence on federal child pornography charges in Arizona and faces an 40 additional years behind bars in Michigan for his sexual assault convictions once that federal sentence is complete.