Former Team USA gymnast Maggie Nichols chronicles her journey from NCAA champion to "Athlete A" in new memoir
Almost a decade after Maggie Nichols reported the disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar to officials at USA Gymnastics, the record-breaking athlete is sharing her story of success in the wake of adversity in a new memoir chronicling her journey from an Olympic hopeful to a collegiate legend. The book is called "Unstoppable! My Journey from World Champion to Athlete A to 8-Time NCAA National Gymnastics Champion and Beyond."
"Sometimes, when you go through disappointments, you think that your dream is crushed, but then another door swings wide open with so many more amazing opportunities than you could ever imagine," Nichols said on "CBS Mornings."
"Me not making the Olympic team, I thought my dreams were dashed. And then I got to go to the University of Oklahoma and I had the most amazing career there, and, you know, broke some records."
Now 26, Nichols is a world and eight-time NCAA champion gymnast, owing in part to her run on the United States women's national team alongside iconic teammates like Aly Raisman and Simone Biles, the latter of whom praised Nichols' discipline in the forward of her memoir, recalling her mantra in the gym: "Business first and fun later."
Despite her competitive performances that put Nichols at the forefront of the USA Gymnastics team, she retired from elite gymnastics after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016 — something Nichols believes was a consequence of her decision to report Nassar's sexual abuse. Nichols, alongside her coach at the time, became one of the first women to report Nassar's abuse to USA Gymnastics officials in 2015, the same year she helped Team USA win gold at the Gymnastics World Championship.
"I was having back pain. I was at the World Selection Camp and I could barely touch my toes. So, he told me that it was going to help me do all my skills and compete with no pain," Nichols recalled on "CBS Mornings."
Although women had reported Nassar's abuse as far back as the 90s, Nichols said that USA Gymnastics touted him to young athletes as likable and trustworthy.
"Everyone said he was the most friendly doctor and everything like that," Nichols said. "We were young athletes at the time, so we trusted everything they told us as USAG."
More than 500 women and girls later came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar, including many who say he used "medical treatment" as a guise to abuse them while he worked as a doctor for Team USA. Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison in December 2017 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges and received sentences that will last longer than he will be able to survive in a Michigan state prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault tied to his tenure at Michigan State University.
Nichols, Biles, Raisman and fellow Olympic gymnast Kayla Maroney — who have all come out with abuse allegations involving Nassar — appeared at a Senate hearing in 2021 where they asked for charges to be brought against FBI agents they say had botched the investigation into earlier complaints against him, which may have prevented him from abusing women and girls in subsequent years.
A report from the inspector general in 2021 said an investigation found that agents at the FBI's Indianapolis field office failed to respond to reports from gymnasts about Nassar's abuse with the urgency that those allegations required, "made fundamental errors" and "and failed to take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar." But the Justice Department ultimately did not bring charges against the agents.
Nichols on Wednesday called out federal agents for "not approaching the situation correctly, and not doing what they're supposed to do, not protecting us after we reported so many athletes were abused."
"It's really disappointing," she said.
While the USA Gymnastics investigation into Nassar was underway in 2016, Nichols became known publicly in early news coverage of the scandal by Indianapolis Star reporters as "Athlete A," as she remained anonymous. Netflix released a documentary in 2020 about the investigation with the title "Athlete A."
Nichols came out publicly with her allegations in 2018, a decision that she said was motivated by her desire to empower other women.
In 2019, Nichols received the NCAA Inspiration Award for her decision to come forward with the allegations. The award is given annually to a collegiate athlete who "when confronted with a life-altering situation used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome the event and now serves as a role model to give hope and inspiration to others in similar situations."
"It took me a really long time to decide whether or not I wanted to come out publicly, but I felt like it would help someone else who may be experiencing something similar and empower them to share their story," Nichols said. "Because some of the girls that were coming out publicly before me inspired me to come forward. And I feel like I helped a lot of people by doing so."
