McKayla Maroney Says She Was Forced to Compete on a Broken Foot Because of Larry Nassar

Famed gold medal-winning U.S. gymnast McKayla Maroney now says that disgraced Dr. Larry Nassar helped forced her to compete on a broken foot during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Maroney, who won a gold medal in 2012, revealed yet another story about the disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor who in 2018 was convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of young gymnasts and sentenced to 175 years in prison.

“You guys know I competed on the Olympic team as a vaulter. I also came in ready for floor, but as soon as I got to London, I broke my foot,” Maroney said in a video posted to Instagram on Saturday.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Maroney noted that she was trained “never blame anyone” for her injury because she felt it was her “body’s fault.”

But in the years since the incident, she said she now feels that USA Gymnastics coach Márta Károlyi pushed too hard and forced the gymnasts to begin training almost immediately upon arriving in London for the games without giving them time to get over their fatigue and jet lag from travel.

“And that’s when I broke my foot because I was dizzy as hell,” Maroney explained. “Like, I felt terrible. I looked at my coach before the beam routine like, ‘Really? You’re going to make me get on this thing right now? I feel like s—.'”

In 2012, it was reported that Maroney had broken a toe. At the time, she even insisted that it was just a bruise. However, Maroney now says that Dr. Nassar knew full well her foot was broken, and he helped cover up the truth and forced her to compete anyway.

In another post focusing on the trials and tribulations of pop singer Britney Spears and her struggle over the right to live her own life, Maroney again mentioned the abuse she suffered at the hands of Nassar.

(The Associated Press)

Nassar, Maroney now says, “was the one who helped with the X-rays and passed along the information.” She added that coach Károlyi even yelled at her over the injury.

“From my experience, speaking up about abuse is extremely exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally,” Maroney wrote on July 28. “I never wanted to be seen as a victim. I just wanted Larry Nassar in jail and the people who enabled the abuse to be held accountable.”

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