'I stand with all of them': Olympic champion Simone Biles wears teal in honor of her fellow survivors of Larry Nassar's sexual abuse as she wins her FIFTH national gymnastics title

  • Biles, 21,  was one of hundreds of young girls abused by Nassar
  • The former team doctor was sentenced to 235 years in prison earlier this year
  • Nearly 250 women read impact statements against him at his trial in February 
  • Biles and other Team USA athletes said they had not been contacted by the body
  • Fellow gold medalists Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian have sued over the abuse
  • Olympic champion Biles won her fifth US women's gymnastics title on Sunday 
  • She also took home gold in every event final: vault, uneven bars, beam, and floor 

Champion: Simone Biles wore a teal leotard as she was crowned national champion on Sunday, to honor her fellow Larry Nassar abuse victims 

Champion: Simone Biles wore a teal leotard as she was crowned national champion on Sunday, to honor her fellow Larry Nassar abuse victims 

Simone Biles competed in a teal-colored leotard in a display of solidarity with the sexual abuse victims of former USA team doctor Larry Nassar.

The Olympic champion wore the garment on her way to winning her fifth US women's gymnastics title on Sunday.  

She explained she had designed the leotard for the 'survivors' of sexual abuse, a group that includes Biles, who revealed in January she was among Nassar's victims.

'[The color] is for the survivors,' Biles said after becoming the first woman in 24 years to post the top score on every event on her way to a national championship. 'I stand with all of them and I think it's kind of special to unite [us].'

Teal became associated with survivors of sexual assault in 2000, and ribbons in the color are worn as a symbol of sexual assault awareness and prevention. 

Simone, 21, came up with the idea to wear a teal leotard at the competition eight months ago, long before she knew how her comeback following a post-Olympic break would go. In the end, it simultaneously served as a beacon to her otherworldly gymnastics while also highlighting the need to keep the Nassar victims at the forefront of the sport. 

Top of her game: The 21-year-old gymnast not only won the all-around competition, she also claimed gold on every event at the US Championships 2018 at TD Garden in Boston

Top of her game: The 21-year-old gymnast not only won the all-around competition, she also claimed gold on every event at the US Championships 2018 at TD Garden in Boston

Meaningful: Simone Biles has opened up about the importance of wearing teal at the US National Championships as a show of support for her fellow sexual assault survivors 

Making history: Biles became the first woman in 24 years to post the top score on every event on her way to the national championship victory over the weekend

Nearly 200 women read impact statements to 55-year-old Nassar at his sexual abuse trial in January.

His victims included all five members of the 2012 Olympic team - Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney. 

Former US gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was found to have abused young athletes

Former US gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was found to have abused young athletes

2016 team member Madison Kocian also came forward last week, alongside her UCLA teammate Ross, to reveal that she was also a survivor of the doctor's abuse.

Nassar is serving up to 235 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually abusing athletes in his care following his lengthy trial.  

Biles' electric performance came hours after USA Gymnastics president Kerry Perry spent 22 minutes talking around the fallout of the Nassar scandal without offering much in the way of substance in her first extended public comments since taking over last December.

Perry danced around the question when asked if the organization planned to do anything specific to honor the survivors. Ultimately, USA Gymnastics did not, though Perry said she envisions a day when the organization and the victims stand 'side by side.'

Since coming forward the gymnasts some athletes say they haven't heard anything from the national team.

Ross was a member of the Fierce Five during the 2012 Olympic Games
Kocian won silver in the uneven bars event during the Rio 2016 Olympic games

Coming forward: Kyla Ross, pictured left during the 2012 Olympics, and Madison Kocian, pictured right after winning silver at the 2016 Summer Games, both accused Nassar of abuse

All five members of the 2012 Olympic team, (l-r) McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and now Ross, have revealed they were abused by Nassar

All five members of the 2012 Olympic team, (l-r) McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and now Ross, have revealed they were abused by Nassar

'Being on national team for all those years, we were really silenced. We didn't really have a voice and say as athletes,' Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross said. 'Personally, we both have not heard anything [from USA Gymnastics]. 

'And it's been saddening to know that a lot of gymnasts have gone through this event and they have not reached out and seen how we're doing as people, not as just athletes, but as individuals who grew up in this sport,' she added.

The USA Gymnastics board has changed over the course of the past two years with a new president and board of directors.

'There are still people at the top that I feel have overseen this issue for a long time and I think that needs to be changed as well as the whole culture around everything,' Rio gold medalist Kocian said.

'I don't think enough has been changed from the coaching standpoint. There are still coaches under that abusive style of coaching whether it's verbal abuse, that's what enables all of this,' she added.

Ross and Kocian have both filed civil lawsuits against Michigan State - where Nassar worked for decades - and plan to do the same against the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics.

Raising it up: The gymnast stunned her fellow athletes when she made her return to the sport after a two-year break, by not only regaining all of her old skills, but improving them as well
Raising it up: The gymnast stunned her fellow athletes when she made her return to the sport after a two-year break, by not only regaining all of her old skills, but improving them as well

Raising it up: The gymnast stunned her fellow athletes when she made her return to the sport after a two-year break, by not only regaining all of her old skills, but improving them as well

Flying high! Although uneven bars is not known to be her best event, the gymnast - pictured on the first day of the competition - still placed first over a tough list of athletes

Flying high! Although uneven bars is not known to be her best event, the gymnast - pictured on the first day of the competition - still placed first over a tough list of athletes

Biles herself came forward to speak about Nassar's abuse in January, revealing in a powerful #MeToo post on social media that she was also a victim of the former team doctor.

'Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl. But lately...I've felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams,' wrote Biles at the beginning of her post.

She then shared that Nassar had also been sexually abusing her while she trained at the national facility in Texas.

'Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper,' explained Biles.

'There are many reasons that I have been reluctant to share my story, but I now know it is not my fault.'

The Olympic champion - who has set her sights on securing a place on Team USA for the 2020 Games, where she is already the early favorite to win the all-around - went on to praise her fellow gymnasts who had already come forward to speak about the abuse.  

'After hearing the brave stories of my friends and other survivors, I know that this horrific experience does not define me,' wrote Biles.

'I am much more than this. I am unique, smart, talented, motivated and passionate.'

She closed out her powerful letter by stating: 'We need to know why this was able to take place for so long and to so many of us. We need to make sure something like this never happens again.' 

Kyle Stephens, another victim of  Nassar, gives her victim impact statement at the hearing

Speaking out: Nearly 250 of Nassar's victims read victim impact statements in front of the former doctor, including Rachael Denhollander and Kyle Stephens

While speaking out about the abuse later that month, Biles said it was 'ridiculous' that she had still not heard from the US Olympic Committee's officials.

She has heard from the new president of USA Gymnastics, which employed Nassar, but she said they did not discuss the abuse. 

'The new president, Kerry Perry, she flew down for a visit and we didn't talk [about] any of that,' Biles said.

'She wanted to introduce herself because I, out of the girls, is the only one back in the gym so far so she reached out to me but other than that the USOC has not reached out yet.' 

Biles, who did not attend the hearings but wrote to the judge in a statement, said she was happy with the sentence her abuser received. 

'I was very happy, I wish she would have given him like a crazy number, like 3,000 years or something but other than that, she was a boss and she was absolutely amazing,' she said during interviews with Hoda Kotb and Megyn Kelly on the Today show earlier this year.

'The judge is my hero because she gave it to him straight and didn't let him get any power over any of the girls and letting the girls speak was very powerful,' she added.

LARRY NASSAR TIMELINE: RISE AND FALL OF USA GYMNASTICS PEDOPHILE DOCTOR

1986: Larry Nassar joins USA Gymnastics as an athletic trainer for the national team a year after graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in kinesiology.

1993: Nassar completes his master's program and is awarded an osteopathic medical degree from Michigan State University

1994: Nassar begins sexually abusing Jamie Dantzscher according to a 2016 lawsuit filed by the gymnast, who is the first member of a national team to publicly accuse Nassar. Dantzscher claims that the abuse lasted up until the Sydney Games in 2000, where the team won Bronze in the all-around event.

1996: Nassar is promoted by USA Gymnastics, and appointed to the role of national medical coordinator. In that capacity he travels to his first Olympic Games in Atlanta, where the women's team wins Gold.

Nassar begins working at the newly opened Twistars USA Gymnastics Club thanks to his close relationship with owners John and Kathryn Geddert.

1997: In the wake of the Olympics, Nassar accepts two team physician positions, one at Holt High School and one at Michigan State.

A parent alerts John Geddert to Nassar's questionable techniques according to a 2017 lawsuit, but Geddert does not alert authorities or any of Nassar's employers to these concerns.

1998: Nassar begins to sexually abuse the daughter of a family friend by penetrating her vagina with his fingers every other week. This lasts for five years says the girl in court filings, beginning when she is just 6.

A student at Michigan State alerts trainers and coaches in the athletic department to questionable practices being carried out by Nassar, but no action is taken according to a court complaint. 

2000: A second student reached out to members of the athletic department to voice their concern about Nassar but nothing is done according to a 2017 lawsuit.

Nassar travels to Sydney with the US Olympic team.

Nassar begins to sexually abuse Rachael Denhollander, who tells police that she was just 15 when the doctor began to molest her while claiming to be treating her lower back pain. Fifteen years later, she is the first woman to file a criminal complaint.

2004: One of Nassar's victims, who he has now confessed to molesting, tells her parents that the doctor has been abusing her while she receives treatments. They do not report this to authorities.

Nassar travels to Athens with the national team for the Olympics. 

Nassar receives images of child pornography online according to federal charging documents.

2008: Nassar attends the Beijing Olympics with the national team. 

2010: Nassar begins treating two-time Olympian Aly Raisman, who reveals in her memoir Fierce that she was sexually abused by the doctor for the final five years of his career.

2011: Nassar gives McKayla Maroney a sleeping pill and she awakes to find herself being sexually assaulted by him in a Tokyo hotel rooms she claims in a public statement.

2012: Nassar sexually assaults Maroney while she is in London at the Olympic Games. Maroney says she was assaulted the night before the team wins Gold in the all around and the night before she won Silver on vault.

2014: Nassar is cleared of any wrongdoing by Michigan State after an investigation into claims that he sexually assaulted a woman while she received treatment. 

Nassar announced on Facebook he will be stepping down as national medical coordinator but continue to work with the women's team through the 2016 Rio Games.

2015: A conversation between Raisman and Maggie Nichols about Nassar's techniques is overheard by a coach at the national training facility, who alerts USA Gymnastics. 

Nassar suddenly announced his retirement from USA Gymnastics in a post on Facebook.

SEPTEMBER 2016: Michigan State fires Nassar one years after the first criminal complaint is filed against the doctor by Hollander.

OCTOBER 2016: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette declares that his office will be looking into allegations made against Nassar and is working with Michigan State. 

NOVEMBER 2016: Nassar is officially charged with three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 following the attorney general office's initial investigation. He enters a plea of not guilty and is released after posting $1 million bail.

DECEMBER 2016: Nassar is indicted on federal charges after over 37,000 images and videos of child pornography are found on his hard drives. He is denied bond.

JANUARY 2017: Nassar, MSU, USA Gymnastics and Twistars Gymnastics club are sued by 18 victims who allege that they endured sexual assault, battery, molestation and harassment between 1996 and 2016 while nothing was done to help them despite other victims speaking out.

FEBRUARY 2017: Nassar is ordered to stand trial in Ingham County on the three charges filed by the district attorney's office after a judge rules there is enough evidence to proceed in the case. 

JUNE 2017: An Ingham County judge rules that there is also enough evidence for Nassar to stand trial on 12 criminal counts of first–degree sexual conduct.

JULY 2017: Nassar enters a guilty plea to three child pornography charges.

OCTOBER 2017: Maroney reveals she is one of Nassar's victims. 

NOVEMBER 2017: Raisman reveals she is one of Nassar's victims. Nassar enters a guilty plea to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County Circuit Court.

DECEMBER 2017: Gabby Douglas reveals she is one of Nassar's victims. Nassar is sentenced to 60 years in prison on federal charges, a sentence he is currently appealing.

JANUARY 2018: Simone Biles reveals she is one of Nassar's victims. 

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