USA Gymnastics says CEO out in latest post-scandal shakeup

The Orange County Register, which reported the departure hours before USA Gymnastics announced it, said Kerry Perry was forced out amid pressure from the US Olympic Committee.

USA Gymnastics said on Tuesday that its chief executive, Kerry Perry has left the sport's national governing body as the organization tries to recover from a scandal in which one of its team doctor sexually abused hundreds of female athletes.

Media reports said the departure of Perry, a former media executive who took the job nine months ago, came under pressure.

Perry had been hired around the time former national team doctor Larry Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually abusing more than 100 gymnasts, including Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber.

The full board of USA Gymnastics, the sport's national governing body, resigned early this year after revelations that officials there had turned a blind eye to the accusations.

"In the wake of horrific events that have impacted our athletes and the entire gymnastics community, USA Gymnastics has made progress is stabilizing itself," Karen Golz, chair of the USA Gymnastics Board, said in a statement.

Golz thanked Perry "for her leadership under very difficult circumstances."

The Orange County Register, which reported the departure hours before USA Gymnastics announced it, said she was forced out amid pressure from the US Olympic Committee, according to two unidentified people it said are familiar with the process.

USA Gymnastics spokeswoman Leslie King declined to comment on the report. The group's statement did not say why she was leaving.

Perry had been criticized for not reaching out to the victims of Nassar's sexual abuse and for focusing on marketing rather than structural changes, the Register said.

In addition, USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland said on Friday night that it was "time to consider making adjustments in the leadership," USA TODAY reported.

In June, USOC acting CEO Susanne Lyons told reporters that Perry had "made a lot of good first steps but there is quite a long way to go.”

Nassar, who also was a doctor for athletes at Michigan State University, was convicted last year of sexually molesting gymnasts in incidents dating as far back as the 1990s and was sentenced in January to an effective life term in prison.

The sentencing followed an extraordinary weeklong hearing that saw a parade of Nassar victims tell their stories in raw and unflinching terms, describing how he used medical treatments as a cover to justify penetrating their bodies with his fingers.