Nassar Judge Warns Gymnasts Still Failed by Money and Medals 2026

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, the judge who sentenced former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison, has warned that gymnasts are still being failed a decade after his crimes were exposed. Speaking to the Guardian against the backdrop of the World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam this week, Aquilina condemned the lack of meaningful change in the sport and said human rights must be prioritised over the desire for sporting success.

Aquilina insisted on hearing all 169 impact statements in her courtroom after Nassar's guilty plea, a decision that gave survivors a platform and drew global attention to the scale of the abuse. Now, she says, the system has not done enough to protect the athletes who come after them.

Nassar Judge: 'Money and Medals' Still Come Before Safety

In her interview with the Guardian, Aquilina was blunt about the pace of reform. "Nassar was 10 years ago and there have been very few changes that are meaningful," she said. She rejected the small, incremental adjustments that organisations often celebrate, arguing that they do not amount to the systemic overhaul survivors have demanded.

"I'm not looking for little changes that a lot of people get credit for, I want meaningful change, a lot of meaningful changes, and we're just not there yet, not in sports, not in life, not in the courtroom, not in the classroom or in the legislature," she said. "I have to ask why? It's the same answer: it's money, medals and notoriety over the safety of children, and safety is a human right, it's not a question mark."

Her comments place the focus squarely on the incentives that shape elite sport. When winning medals and protecting reputations carry more weight than safeguarding athletes, abuse can flourish unchecked. Aquilina's warning is that this dynamic has not been dismantled, even after the most high-profile abuse scandal in the history of gymnastics.

Why the Decade Since Nassar Has Not Brought Enough Change

Nassar's crimes were exposed after years of allegations and a sprawling investigation that ultimately involved more than 250 women and girls. His arrest and conviction triggered reviews, policy promises and a reckoning across sport. Yet survivors and advocates argue that the cultural and structural problems that allowed him to operate remain largely intact.

Aquilina's intervention came as activists, survivors and advocates from Gymnasts for Change International (GCI) gathered in Rotterdam to question why the level of change has been inadequate 10 years on from Nassar's arrest and what can be done. Their presence at the World Championships was a deliberate contrast to the celebration of competition, a reminder that the sport's governing bodies are still judged by how they treat the people inside them.

The core issue is not a lack of awareness. It is a lack of accountability. Reviews and reports can be produced quickly; changing the way coaches, federations and sponsors prioritise athletes takes sustained pressure and independent oversight. That gap between promises and practice is where survivors say the failure persists.

What Survivors and Advocates Are Demanding

Claire Heafford, a survivor of abuse within the sport and the chief executive of GCI, joined the call for deeper reform. The organisation has pressed for athlete-centred safeguards and a culture in which reporting abuse is safe and taken seriously. The message from Rotterdam is that survivors will keep speaking until the systems that failed them are rebuilt.

Advocates point to the need for independent reporting mechanisms, transparent disciplinary processes and meaningful athlete representation in decision-making. They argue that safety cannot be a box-ticking exercise or a public relations response to a crisis. It has to be embedded in how the sport is governed every day.

• Meaningful change: survivors want structural reform, not small adjustments that generate good publicity.
• Independent oversight: reporting and disciplinary processes must be separate from the institutions they monitor.
• Athlete representation: gymnasts need a genuine voice in the decisions that affect their safety.
• Cultural accountability: federations and sponsors must be judged on how they protect athletes, not just on results.
• Human rights first: safety is a right, not a negotiable extra when medals are at stake.

How the Nassar Case Reshaped the Conversation

The Nassar case changed what the public expects from sports institutions. The volume of impact statements, and Aquilina's decision to let every one be heard, forced a conversation about power, trust and the vulnerability of young athletes. It also showed how institutions can protect abusers when reputation is at stake.

Since then, the language of safeguarding has become common in sport. But language is not the same as practice. The question Aquilina raises is whether the reforms have changed the balance of power or simply added new procedures on top of old incentives.

That question matters beyond gymnastics. Abuse scandals in other sports have followed similar patterns: initial outrage, promises of reform, then slow erosion of urgency. The lesson from Nassar is that without independent enforcement, momentum fades and the conditions for abuse can return. The background to this story is set out in Celebrity: latest articles. A related thread runs through Lamine Yamal Stuns Betis as Barcelona Pass First Real Test.

What to Watch Next in Gymnastics Reform

The World Championships in Rotterdam will showcase extraordinary athletic achievement. The challenge for the sport's leaders is to ensure that the pursuit of medals does not come at the expense of the people competing for them. Aquilina's warning is a test of whether governing bodies will treat safety as a permanent priority rather than a crisis response. Earlier coverage in Scott Boland Shines Again as Rain Dominates Second Test shows how the argument developed. A closer look at the same subject appears in Tottenham vs Coventry: Maddison Starts in Premier League Clash.

Survivors and advocates will be watching for concrete commitments: independent reporting channels, transparent outcomes and real athlete involvement. Without those, the gap between the rhetoric of reform and the reality of protection will remain. For Aquilina, the answer is not complicated, but it requires courage from the people who hold power. Anyone following the wider picture can start with Gaming Monitors vs Work Monitors: The Line Is Blurring Fast. The same theme surfaces in France Protests: Macron's Authority Tested by Violent Unrest, which takes a different angle.