New USOC CEO Apologizes to Aly Raisman After Initial Snub
Aly Raisman's first meeting with new U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland didn't go well at the Senate hearing on Olympic sex abuse Tuesday, reports USA Today's Christine Brennan.
According to Brennan, Raisman said she went to introduce herself to Hirshland.
"I said, ‘Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,' and she kind of ignored me, but I was like, 'excuse me,' "Raisman said. “So she looked at me because I wasn’t going to let her leave. I said, 'I’d really like to introduce myself to you.' She’s like, 'I’ve been instructed I can’t talk to you.' So I said, 'You can’t just say hi to me?' She said no and then rushed out."
When she heard about Raisman’s criticism, Hirshland emailed the gymnast an apology and said it was a misunderstanding. She also said the email was a "sincere ask for a redo."
Olympic champion Raisman has become an outspoken advocate during the Larry Nassar abuse scandal.
Nassar abused about 300 victims, according to court records observed by the Detroit Free Press. He was sentenced up to 175 years on Michigan state charges of sexual assault, to go along with a sentence of 40 to 125 years in prison on three counts of sexual assault with another 60–year sentence on federal child-pornography charges.
