USA Gymnastics Hires Ex-Congresswoman as Interim Leader

U.S.A. Gymnastics Hires Ex-Congresswoman as Interim Leader

By The Associated Press

Oct. 12, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS — U.S.A. Gymnastics hired Mary Bono, a former congresswoman, as its interim president and chief executive.

The organization announced the move on Friday. Bono will hold the position while U.S.A. Gymnastics searches for a permanent successor to Kerry Perry, who resigned under pressure from the United States Olympic Committee in September after spending nine months on the job. U.S.A. Gymnastics is still struggling to emerge from the fallout of the sexual abuse scandal surrounding its former team doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar.

Bono spent 15 years in the House of Representatives, as a Republican from Southern California, starting in 1998. She won her first term in a special election to fill the vacancy left by the death of her husband, the former pop star Sonny Bono. Mary Bono most recently worked at a consulting firm in Washington.

Bono, 57, has a background in gymnastics. She trained for several clubs for a decade.

“Mary is passionate about the sport, and having her as our interim president and C.E.O. will move the organization forward,” Karen Golz, the U.S.A. Gymnastics board chairwoman, said in a statement.

More than 200 women have come forward over the last two years to say they were sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of treatment, including current or former members of the organization’s elite program.

The group of survivors includes the reigning Olympic champion Simone Biles, who was named to the 2018 world championship team on Friday, shortly before Bono’s hiring was announced.

Nassar is now serving decades in prison for child pornography and sexual assault. U.S.A. Gymnastics is in mediation in an attempt to settle dozens of lawsuits filed against it in the wake of the revelations.

Perry took over as the U.S.A. Gymnastics president on Dec. 1, 2017, but was pushed out in September by the U.S.O.C. after a series of missteps, including the hiring and firing of an elite development coordinator.

The coordinator, Mary Lee Tracy, was an early supporter of Nassar when allegations against him began to surface two years ago. After the announcement of her promotion, Aly Raisman, a six-time Olympic medalist who has said she was abused by Nassar, called Tracy’s hiring “a slap in the face for survivors” and proof that the organization had not changed.

Tracy then made an attempt to reach out to Raisman, one of the gymnasts who has sued. U.S.A. Gymnastics, responded by asking Tracy to step down.

Sarah Hirshland, the new chief executive for the U.S.O.C., had seen enough, saying in a statement last month that U.S.A. Gymnastics “is struggling to manage its obligations effectively and it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership.”

U.S.A. Gymnastics formed a search committee in September to find a full-time replacement for Perry. Spencer Stuart, an executive recruiting firm, has been retained to handle the search.