Former US Gymnast Mattie Larson Says She Tried To Give Herself A Concussion To Avoid Abusive Sports Coach

'No accolade or award is worth enduring abuse.’

Former US Gymnast Mattie Larson Says She Tried To Give Herself A Concussion To Avoid Abusive Sports Coach

by Phoebe Parke |
Published on

Former gymnastics champion Mattie Larson has been in detailing the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of former team USA sports doctor Larry Nassar at his ongoing trial.

Larson, who retired from gymnastics because of the abuse, told the court how Nassar started molesting her at 14-years-old while he was working as a sports doctor for the US gymnastics team.

She explained that he would abuse her at the USA Gymnastics training site at a ranch in Texas, sometimes in front of coaches and friends in communal areas, according to the BBC.

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‘If he is doing this in front of my friends, it can't be that bad, right?,’ she told the court she remembers thinking at the time.

‘Larry, you were the only one I trusted,’ she said. ‘In the end, you turned out to be the scariest monster of all.’

The 25-year-old said the sport she had loved as a young girl turned into a ‘living hell’, that she was suicidal, and told the harrowing story of a time she intentionally tried to give herself a concussion by hitting her head on the bathroom floor, all to avoid Nassar.

‘I can't even put into words how much I f****** hate you,’ she said to Nassar who was in the courtroom as she spoke. ‘No accolade or award is worth enduring abuse.’

Larson is not the first woman to accuse Nassar, 158 women have come forward with claims of assault, including many world-renowned gymnasts.

Earlier this month Simone Biles told the world about her abuse at the hands of Nassar in an emotional Twitter post.

‘I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar,’ she wrote.

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

Fellow gymnast Gabby Douglas is also among the women who have spoken out about sexual abuse by Larry Nassar.

‘I didn't publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and some things were extremely painful,’ Douglas wrote in a post on Instagram.

Wednesday will be the final day of the hearing, Nassar will already face 60 years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Follow Phoebe on Twitter @PhoebeParke

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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