USA Gymnastics

National gymnastics governing body

USAG was established in 1963 as the U. S. Gymnastics Federation. The organization renamed itself USA Gymnastics in 1993.

In 1990, USA Gymnastics began to keep a list of people permanently banned from coaching for sexual abuse and other reasons. For example, the list includes Robert Dean Head, a USAG coach in Kentucky who in 1992 pled guilty to raping a 12 year old, and Don Peters, the national coach for the 1984 Olympic team, who was banned in 2011 after two former gymnasts accused him of sexual abuse. USAG began requiring background checks for coaches in 2007. Yet by 1996, and possibly much earlier, USAG officials had begun a pattern of concealing and enabling sexual assaults on gymnasts by coaches and others. USAG leaders routinely dismissed complaints and warnings about coaches. For example, USAG received complaints about coach Mark Schiefelbein long before he was convicted in 2003 of molesting a 10 year old girl. USAG officials would admit under oath in 2013 that allegations of sexual abuse were routinely dismissed as hearsay unless they came directly from a victim or victim's parent. Even when USAG leaders believed the accusers, they sometimes allowed coaches to continue coaching for years. For example, they waited four years before telling the police that they had received credible allegations of sexual assault by Marvin Sharp, who became a USAG coach in 2010 and was jailed in 2015 on state and local charges of misconduct with a minor and possession of child pornography. USAG leaders even permitted coaches and others who were convicted of crimes to remain in the sport for years afterward. Documents released in the prosecution of Georgia coach William McCabe revealed how USAG responded to sexual misconduct allegations made against coaches from 1996 to 2006. USAG CEO Steve Penny was forced to resign in March 2017, but received a $1 million severance package. Among other actions, Penny had waited weeks to notify the FBI of sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the national team doctor through four Olympic cycles. including removing the "athlete representative" from the Olympic selection committee, so athletes would be less afraid to report abuses. Liukin would resign two years later due to his own involvement in the sex abuse scandal. In 2018, Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually abusing over 300 female athletes, including Olympic gold medalists Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber. Following his sentencing, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) threatened to decertify USA Gymnastics unless the entire board resigned. USA Gymnastics complied and all 21 board members resigned on January 26. Olympic medalist McKayla Maroney has filed a lawsuit alleging that USA Gymnastics paid her to keep silent about Nassar's abuse. In September 2018, USA Gymnastics fired its elite development director for women, Mary Lee Tracy, who was heavily criticized for initially defending Nassar. USOPC's new CEO Sarah Hirshland said that it was "time to consider making adjustments in the leadership" of USA Gymnastics; two days later, USA Gymnastics president Kerry Perry was forced to resign. On November 5, 2018, the USOPC announced that it was starting the process to decertify USAG as the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. One month later, USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy. In February 2019, the USOPC halted its decertification efforts, citing USAG's bankruptcy. On February 19, 2019, USA Gymnastics appointed a new president and CEO: Li Li Leung, a former gymnast who had most recently served as a vice president at the National Basketball Association (NBA). Leung said she "was upset and angry to learn about the abuse and the institutions that let the athletes down. I admire the courage and strength of the survivors, and will make it a priority to see that their claims are resolved." In 2020, Congress passed and U. S. President Donald Trump signed the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act,

In 2021, the USOPC decided not to decertify USAG as national governing body, There are two Elite groups: Junior Elite (ages 11–15) and Senior Elite (ages 16+). Annual elite level competitions include the American Cup, U. S. Classic, and U. S. Championships, as well as multiple National Qualifying Meets throughout the year. Junior and Senior National Teams are selected based on performance at the U. S. Championships. These athletes then compete at the World Championships. In Olympic years, elite gymnasts compete at the Summer Olympics. To get to the elite level, a gymnast must pass the elite compulsory and optional qualifiers. In elite compulsory qualifiers, gymnasts compete a basic routine designed by organizers to demonstrate that the gymnast has all the basic skills, including twists, handsprings, jumps, leaps, kips to cast handstand, giants, turns, and more. In elite optionals, the gymnast is evaluated for advanced skills and moves, such as pak saltos, releases, complex dismounts, multiple tucks/twists, double layouts, twisting vaults, and more. In optionals, gymnasts create their own routines.

The Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs) seeks to identify talented female gymnasts aged 7–10 for training up to the elite level. State and regional evaluations are followed by a national test of physical abilities and basic gymnastics skills in October of each year. This is followed by a national training camp in December for those who qualify.

The Olympics Hopefuls program (HOPEs) is a program to identify talented gymnasts, generally aged 11–14, and train them to an advanced level. In order to qualify for HOPEs, a gymnast must pass both the elite compulsory and optional qualifiers, and get a certain minimum score. HOPEs Elite gymnasts compete at elite meets, but not as a Junior Elite.

The Gymnastics for All (GfA) discipline consists of five independent programs: Group Performance, Gym for Life Challenge, TeamGym, Acrobatics and Tumbling Development, and HUGS (Special Needs). Local and regional meets are held throughout the year and a GFA National Championships and GymFest is hosted in the summer season for the competitive programs with non competitive showcase opportunities. The discipline is managed by a program committee and a USA Gymnastics technical director, currently Lori Laznovsky. The discipline also provides opportunities for international performance and competition through the non competitive World Gymnaestrada and the competitive World Gym For Life Challenge.

TeamGym, formerly Power TeamGym, is a competitive sport in which teams of 6 to 12 gymnasts, called squads, perform Tumbling, Trampet, and Floor routines. These routines are scored by judges and summed to determine rankings. Squads can compete in levels 1 through 10. Until 2024, gymnasts competed in separate male, female, and mixed groups. Tumbling and Trampet routines are set to music and consist of a number of passes in which gymnasts perform skills one after another in quick succession, commonly referred to as "streaming". Tumbling is competed on an inflatable air track and Trampet is competed in two sections: Vault and Mini tramp. The Floor exercise is a timed performance in which the squad of gymnasts complete choreographed elements in synch on a spring floor.