Three of the brave women who took on Larry Nassar sat down for an interview on Wednesday night.
And one week after their victim impact statements, along with those delivered by another 150 victims, helped put Nassar behind bars for as many as 175 years, the women made it clear that they were not done naming names and working to bring about change.
This became clear just minutes into their interview on The Story with Martha MacCallum when former national team member Jeanette Antolin said the two most famous coaches in the history of the sport knew that girls were being sexually abused.
USA gymnasts Jeanette Antolin (left), Jamie Dantzscher (center) and Mattie Larson (right) sat down for an interview Wednesday night, one week after they each gave victim impact statements that helped put Larry Nassar behind bars for as many as 175 years
Antolin said she believes coaches Bela (left) and Marta Karolyi (right) ‘had to know’ that Nassar was molesting girls at their Texas ranch
Larry Nassar was the national gymnastics team doctor. He molested hundreds of girls throughout his career
‘Did Bela and Marta Karolyi know what [Nassar’s] treatment consisted of?’ asked MacCallum.
‘In my opinion, they had to know. They’ve known about — I know that they’ve — knew about sexual abuse dating back from the ’70s,’ said Antolin.
‘Not just from Larry Nassar, but other coaches that they 100 per cent knew that children were being sexually abused.’
Olympian Jamie Dantzscher nodded in agreement.
A shocked MacCallum repeated back Antolin’s line in a state of disbelief.
‘There were other coaches there that were abusing people?’ she asked Antolin.
‘Yes, there’s other coaches right now abusing athletes. That’s why we keep talking about the whole culture, and the fact that it’s not just mental, physical and emotional abuse,’ explained Antolin.
‘That I’ve been to therapy – you know, years of therapy trying to deal with that side of the abuse. And when I realized there was sex abuse, I said: “Just add it to the list.” You know?’
The women then shared even more heartbreaking details about the culture at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas, where the national team would train.
‘Well, you know, we’d get up in the morning, and they would provide us food, if they had it,’ said Dantzscher.
Jeanette Antolin said she sought therapy to deal with the aftermath of Nassar sexually abusing her
Mattie Larson said the gymnasts were not allowed to talk to each other at breakfast at the ranch to keep them distracted
Jamie Dantzscher said the girls were sometimes not given food at the Texas ranch and they were not allowed to bring their own food
‘I mean, they would search our bags for food. We weren’t allowed to bring food. Our parents were not allowed to go to the ranch. Usually, wake up and have breakfast. And we were not supposed to talk to each other at breakfast.’
MacCallum, again in a state of disbelief, asked why this was the rule.
‘It’s a distraction,’ said Mattie Larson.
‘Yes, exactly. They wanted us to be focused 100 per cent of the time. And I was afraid to – we weren’t allowed to talk, we weren’t allowed to smile. We weren’t allowed to talk to each other,’ said Dantzscher.
‘I was afraid to even say when I was really injured. And that was the other thing, I don’t even remember being able to tell my coaches or the national staff about my injuries.’
She later explained she was afraid that a reported injury would be met with the news that someone else had taken her spot on the team.
Nassar pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault after hundreds of gymnasts accused him of molesting them during his ‘treatments’
Larson said during the interview that a part of her believes Bela (right) and Marta Karolyi (left) were not aware of the abuse taken place at the ranch
Dantzscher said because of this it was Nassar who the girls would tell about their injuries, and no one else.
It was also Nassar who, because of his own perversion, would allow the girls to compete while severely injured, which pleased the coaches.
Dantzscher also noted at one point that Nassar was so complicit in not reporting the physical and menial abuse he witnessed between other coaches and the girls.
Larson, meanwhile, was not willing to say that the Karolyis knew of the abuse, stating: ‘A part of me believes that they didn’t know.’
She then quickly added: ‘I also think they just honestly did not care.’