USA Today · Jul 9, 2020
Olympic champion Simone Biles graces Vogue cover, opens up in interview
Simone Biles was “very depressed” in the months before she acknowledged that she, too, had been abused by Larry Nassar, able to do little more than sleep.
In a frank interview with Vogue, the Olympic champion said she didn’t initially believe she had been abused. But she also felt if she admitted it, she’d be failing people.
“I felt like I knew, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself, that it had happened. Because I felt like, not that you’re supposed to be perfect, but I just felt like that’s what America wanted me to be — was perfect,” Biles told Vogue. “Because every time an American wins the Olympics, you’re like America’s sweetheart.