Simone Biles on visited NBC‘s Megyn Kelly Today on Wednesday and opened up about being sexually abused by her former sports doctor Larry Nassar and the impact his abuse has had on her life.
Speaking to Kelly, Biles said:
“I would be angry, and I didn’t want to talk about it, because I’m like, ‘No, it couldn’t happen to me ― there’s just no way […] And then you come to realize that it has happened, and I think that’s when I broke down about it. […] It feels like he took a part of me that I can’t get back,” she continued. “The main part that he took away from that I’ll never get back is trust, and so I think it’s very hard for me to trust some other people. I find myself even walking down the street, or being in places; I’m just very scared. … But I think it will all come back in time.”
She then became emotional when talking about Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who last week sentenced Nassar to 175 years behind bars.
“I think it’s very hard for someone to go through what I’ve gone through recently,” Biles said. “And it’s very hard to talk about, but other than that I think the judge is my hero just because she gave it to him straight and didn’t let him get any power over any of the girls, and letting the girls go and speak was very powerful.”
During the trial, over 150 women, confronted Nassar with victim impact statements over the course of his 7-day sentencing. He will never see the light of day again.
