Olympic champion gymnast Laurie Hernandez is now comfortable sharing her story.
Hernandez took to Instagram on Thursday, a day after her long-time U.S. Olympic coach Maggie Haney was banned by USA Gymnastics for eight years for verbal and emotional abuse of athletes.
The move came after two months of hearings, including testimony from Hernandez.
“The idea of sharing my story with the world feels extremely nerve wrecking and vulnerable,” Hernandez, who won team gold as a member of Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics, wrote, “but after hearing positive results last night from the panel, I felt that sharing my story could help others, or at least raise awareness to emotional and verbal abuse.”
Haney, 42, who also coached Hernandez at MG Elite Gymnastics in Monmouth Junction, N.J., is now barred from working with any USA Gymnastics athletes or member clubs for eight years.
“I had so many experiences (with Haney) that lead to multiple panic attacks where I’d just stand in front of the equipment and … cry. Hard. I felt like I couldn’t breathe; and I just wanted to go home but I couldn’t cause I was just a kid.”
Hernandez, who was coached by Haney for 11 years, said the abuse led her to question whether she was “too sensitive.”
“I questioned if my experience actually happened at all; or if it was all in my head.”
Haney’s abuse according to Hernandez included comments about her gaining weight, forcing her to work out on multiple injuries and yelling so loud that people in the parking lot outside the gym could hear.
Hernandez says she tried to tell her parents “small versions” what she was dealing with, but that led to phone calls between her mom and Haney that simply led to more abuse.
“Her anger at my mother’s phone calls became so strong, she’d take it out on me during practice.”
That led to Hernandez keeping the abuse to herself until her mom overheard a 2016 FaceTime call with one of her teammates that led to Hernandez finally revealing the full extent of the abuse.
“I thought I hated gymnastics,” Hernandez — who also won an individual silver medal on the balance beam in Rio — admitted, “and it wasn’t until mid 2018 I realized that it was the people that made the experience bad, not the sport itself.”
Hernandez, who moved to California for a “fresh start” to try and earn a spot on the 2020 Olympic team (the Tokyo games are now delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic) called her mental health journey “quite a rollercoaster.”
She called having to speak at Haney’s hearing “a painful surprise” and said he will likely spend “forever” trying to heal from the abuse.
Hernandez capped her post with “Here’s to speaking up” with a heart emoji.
Haney attorney called the ruling “regrettable” and called the investigation and hearing “heavy-handed.”
“There is no fundamental fairness to the manner in which these matters are resolved,” Russell Prince, Haney’s attorney, told the Southern California News Group. “Clearly, I would anticipate an arbitration.”
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