A Gymnast's Manifesto

My love of flying is deeply rooted in my childhood as a gymnast. When people asked me to describe myself for much of my young life, “gymnast” was usually the first word out of my mouth. Gymnastics taught me the importance of physical strength and mental toughness. It created a lifelong passion for my feet leaving the ground. It fed my determination and taught me how much I could achieve through time, effort, and proper mentorship. It brought about a level of perseverance that is vital for me to thrive daily in my chosen career. And, on a physiological level, it gave my muscles the ability to hold my joints together when my not-so-effective ligaments couldn't handle the effort. Gymnastics is as deeply a part of me as my eye color or my height.


I was blessed to grow up in a supportive environment, and I wanted for nothing. For me, my gymnastics experience was only positive. But for so many little girls, their gymnastics journey was full of fear, harassment, and abuse. While Larry Nassar sits behind bars for the rest of his life, his many survivors - over 140 have come forward so far - will spend a lifetime learning how to trust men, doctors, superiors, and even themselves. These lessons were ripped from them along with their innocence by a man who Aly Raisman accurately referred to as a “monster,” and by the many adults in the gymnastics world who turned a blind eye and failed to protect them. These courageous women and their families are not to blame.


But in the wake of this horrific tragedy coming to our nation’s consciousness, I want to shed a shining light on my incredible parents.


Dear Mommy and Daddy.


Thank you.
~Thank you for ensuring I was a child first, and an athlete second or third or fifth or sixteenth.
~Thank you for not letting me join the competitive gymnastics team until I was 8 years old, because when they invited me when I was 7 practice ended past my bedtime.
~Thank you for calmly explaining to me that, no, I couldn’t just drop out of Jewish day school and move to Texas to train at the Karolyi ranch.
~Thank you also for not pointing out to me during those many arguments that I wasn’t good enough at gymnastics to go train at the Karolyi ranch.
~Thank you for pulling the reins on your headstrong child and not allowing me to become fully immersed in the gymnastics world.
~Thank you for comforting me when, at 9 years old, I broke my arm at practice and I didn’t even shed a tear until I realized I might miss Championships.
~I never thought I’d say this, but thank you for not allowing me to return to gymnastics after I recovered from 3 fractures in my spine at 15 years old.
~Thank you for protecting me always.
~Thank you for choosing Silver Stars as my gym, where I grew up and was nurtured by supportive coaches for my whole childhood.
~Thank you for sending me to the doctors recommended by my trusted pediatrician, even when I begged you to take me to the sports doctors recommended by my gym.
~Thank you for not saying “I told you so” when, against your wishes and recommendations, I tried to return to gymnastics in college and came to my own realization that my body could no longer physically tolerate the demands of the sport.
~Thank you for teaching me to advocate for myself.
~Thank you for insisting that I become a well-rounded person, and not solely a gymnast.


I learned so much as a gymnast. In many ways, the sport shaped who I am today. I am heartbroken for all those girls whose childhoods were torn away from them by Larry Nassar and the adults in the organizations that enabled him to terrorize and abuse girls for so many years. USAG, USOC, MSU, I’m looking at you. Sports are about empowerment, healthy living, and fun. Sports are meant to be a positive experience. And Larry Nassar destroyed something sacred for so many strong, powerful young women. I hope and pray that each one of Nassar’s survivors, each young girl in the world who is scared of their coaches, each woman who has emotional scars from abuse, can learn to fly again.