Gymnastics’ Karolyis Sued, File Own Lawsuit In Nassar Scandal

An elite gymnast who trained at Bela and Martha Karolyi’s ranch in Texas on Tuesday became the latest to aim squarely at the famed Olympic coaches in a flurry of lawsuits fied in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal. In her $1 million action, gymnastics champion Sabrina Vega accuses the Karolyis of doing nothing “for weeks at a time" to protect her and other gymnasts who were abused by Nassar while training at their ranch.

Vega’s lawsuit comes amid news the Karolyis quietly filed a lawsuit of their own last month accusing USA Gymnastics of breaking a lease-purchase agreement on their ranch. Also, the lawsuit claims, both USAG and the USOC broke a promise to defend them in any lawsuits that might arise from Nassar's sexual molestation, committed under the guise of medically necessary treatments, at their Sam Houston National Forest ranch.

In two widely publicized sentencing hearings in Michigan earlier this year, Nassar was sent to prison for up to 70 years after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct for abusing his patients under the guise of medically necessary treatment. His accusers included not only those he had treated as team doctor for USA Gymnastics, at Michigan State University and at gymnastics clubs. Earlier convicted on federal pornography charges and sentenced to up to 60 years, Nassar is serving his sentences at a federal prison in Arizona.

Vega’s lawsuit and others seek answers to the questions of when the Karolyis learned about what became one of worst sexual abuse scandals in sports history. The Romania-born coaches, among the most decorated in gymnastics history, have been sued by other former gymnasts, one who say they created “toxic” environment of unrelenting expectations and brutally honest criticism that essentially set up Nassar to pose as a supportive friend to the gymnasts he wanted to molest.

Among nearly 300 women and girls confronting Nassar at the extraordinary hearings were some Olympic gold medalists who said Nassar had abused them at the Karolyi ranch, until last year the site of the women’s national gymnastics training center. The Karolyis say in the lawsuit they would have reported Nassar to appropriate authorities had they known of even a suspicion he was molesting the gymnasts.

Marta Karoyi told NBC News that she doesn’t feel responsible for the gymnasts’ abuse, she does “feel extremely hurt that this thing happened everywhere, but it happened here, also.”

The Karolyis lawsuit, filed last month in Walker County, Texas, accuses USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body, of reneging on a lease-purchase of the couple’s ranch, the site of the Olympic training site for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team since 2000. It also says both USA Gymnastics and the Olympic Committee broke a promise to “wrap their arms” around and defend the Karolyis in the Nassar scandal, according to a Houston Chronicle report.

“(USA Gymnastics) used the close relationship between itself and the Karolyis to its benefit and then disregarded the Karolyis when they no longer felt it expedient to keep them close,” the lawsuit claims.

Houston attorney Gary Jewell, who filed the lawsuit, told the Chronicle the Karolyis learned in 2015 that USA Gymnastics and Nassar had parted ways, but didn’t know about the molestation allegations until after the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the lawsuit, they claim they were told not to disclose that Nassar was no longer the team doctor for USA Gymnastics.

Multiple athletes have filed lawsuits against USA Gymnastics and the Olympic Committee alleging the governing organizations contributed to a culture that allowed Nassar’s abuse to go on unchecked. Amid those mounting legal problems, the USOC in February 2018 asked a Karolyis-owned company for indemnification against damages in court and to assist in the USOC defense of lawsuits alleging abuse at the Karolyis ranch, Jewell told the newspaper.

He argues both USA Gymnastics and the Olympic Committee are attempting to "sacrifice the Karolyis … to shift blame off themselves."

USA Gymnastics, which has previously said that it reported Nassar’s suspected abuse to the FBI weeks after getting a report in 2015, cut its ties with the Karolys in January during Nassar’s sentencing hearing in Michigan.

USOC said in a statement that abuse “has no place in our Olympic and paralympic community.”

The Karolyis moved to Texas in the mid-1980s and began coaching gymnasts like Mary Lou Retton, Kerri Strong and Dominique Moceanu, all Olympic gold medalists. Both have served as national team coordinators for USA Gymnastics, Bela Karolyi in that role in 2000 and succeeded in 2001 by his wife, who finished her career with back-to-back U.S. women’s Olympic team gold medals.

Members of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams are among Nassar’s accusers. They include 2012 “Fierce Five” team members McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber and 2016 team member Simone Biles.

(2011 file photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images for Hilton)