US Olympian McKayla Maroney reveals horrific details of being sexually assaulted

Olympic gold medal gymnast McKayla Maroney, center, a sexual abuse victim of U.S. women's gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, arrives to make her first public remarks as the featured speaker at the 2

OLYMPIC gold medallist McKayla Maroney says she was molested hundreds of times by former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, who worked as an osteopathic physician for USA Gymnastics and was a faculty member at Michigan State University, was convicted in three courts of charges that included abusing his patients. More than 200 victims, including Maroney, spoke at his sentencing hearing.

Maroney, who made the statements in an NBC Dateline special that airs this weekend on American TV, says the abuse began on the day she met Nassar and continued for the next five years.

"He told me he was going to do a check-up on me and that was the first day I was abused," Maroney says in a preview released by NBC News.

Maroney, now 22, says she was 13 the first time she met Nassar and that he abused her every time she saw him thereafter.

"He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics. So you can't tell people this," Maroney continued.

"I actually was like, 'That makes sense. I don't want to tell anybody about this.' I didn't believe that they would understand."

The special also features an interview with Bela and Martha Karolyi, the famed coaches whose training ranch is where Maroney first met Nassar. They have previously remained mum on the allegations against Nassar after denying any knowledge of his actions in 2016.

The ranch has since closed, but the allegations of abuse there are being investigated.

Nassar, 54, is serving a 60-year sentence at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, on child pornography charges. He has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in one Michigan county and 40 to 125 years in another on sexual assault charges.

Maroney wonders if the heights she reached during her career came at too high a price.

"I at times question if my gymnastics career was really even worth it," Maroney said on Wednesday while speaking to the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

"Because of the stuff I'm dealing with now ... You have to pick up the pieces of your life and that has been the hardest part for me. It's always three steps forward, two steps back."

Maroney's remarks were her first public statements since revealing she was among Nassar's abuse victims last spring. The 22-year-old said she's been empowered by the outpouring of support from others since coming forward and is intent on making sure the culture at USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic Committee and Michigan State University changes for the better.

Nassar spent nearly three decades at USA Gymnastics before being fired in 2015 after complaints about his behaviour.

Maroney pointed to personnel overhauls at USA Gymnastics, Michigan State and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as signs of progress, though much work remains to be done.

"Within the gymnastics world, there's no question we need to rebuild from the ground up so this never happens again," Maroney said. "I definitely see a future where athletes are safe and succeeding. This next generation is going to be even stronger with everything that we're doing because they don't need to continue to struggle with the repercussions of sexual abuse. They shouldn't have to. I should have never had to.

"My team won gold medals in spite of USA Gymnastics and MSU and USOC. They don't build champions. They break them. But we're changing that."

USA Gymnastics has replaced nearly its entire leadership over the last 15 months, including bringing on a new president and board of directors. Michigan State and the USOC have also shaken up their leadership in response to Nassar's widespread abuse.

Maroney captured a gold and silver at the 2012 London Olympics and won gold on vault in the 2011 and 2013 world championships. She announced her retirement in 2016, the last time she spoke publicly before Wednesday.

— Reuters and AP