The passage of time hasn't done much to soothe their pain. If anything, Gina and John Nichols are angrier that another grim anniversary has come and gone, stretching their wait for justice into a sixth excruciating year.
The new documentary "Athlete A" tells the whole story. How the Nichols' daughter, Maggie, was the first athlete to report that USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar had sexually abused her. How that organization — and others — did not immediately act on that information in 2015, leaving Nassar free to molest other girls. How Nassar went to prison, but many of his enablers have not been held accountable.
"Some people say, 'Get over it. It's been five years,' " said Gina Nichols, of Little Canada. "They can't understand why we're still upset. But justice hasn't been served. We're still fighting this. It's still very raw for us."
Filmmakers Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk spent 2½ years making "Athlete A," named for the alias that protected Nichols' identity in early court documents. The film, which begins streaming Wednesday on Netflix, details how USA Gymnastics' lust for medals and money allowed Nassar to victimize countless athletes.
Maggie, Gina and John Nichols are featured prominently, along with two other abused gymnasts — Rachael Denhollander and Jamie Dantzscher — and the investigative reporters at the Indianapolis Star who told their stories. The Nichols family hopes "Athlete A" will bring more public awareness to the coverup, which has not been as widely covered as Nassar's shocking crimes.
Gina and John Nichols said they knew before the 2016 Olympic trials that Maggie would not make the team for the Rio Olympics, as punishment for blowing the whistle on Nassar. They recall being lied to, shunned and kept in the dark by USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic Committee officials.
USA Gymnastics has denied engaging in a coverup, saying in a 2018 statement that it "kept the matter confidential because of the FBI's directive not to interfere with the investigation." Maggie Nichols has sued USA Gymnastics, claiming it failed to supervise Nassar and protect her; the organization has denied wrongdoing.
A congressional report last year said USA Gymnastics and the USOC "knowingly concealed abuse by Nassar,'' and those organizations and the FBI "had opportunities to stop Nassar but failed to do so.''