Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault, please take caution while reading.
Former USA Olympic gymnast Maggie Nichols’s memoir titled Unstoppable!: My Journey from World Champion to Athelete A to 8-Time NCAA National Gymanstics Champion and Beyond recounts her journey as an Olympic-level athlete. It also reveals that Larry Nassar, a former sports medicine physician, was sexually abusing her and other athletes under his care. Now at 26, she’s an eight-time NCAA champion gymnast, which she partly attributes to her run on the USA national women’s team with teammates Aly Raisman and Simone Biles.
Unstoppable!
Maggie Nichols recounts in her memoir about how she was the first to speak out against Doctor Larry Nassar, after which more than 500 women and girls came forward with similar allegations. She admits that a lot of people most likely already know what happened, but they don’t know the full story. Her book goes into detail about everything that happened. She hopes her story can help educate people on sexual abuse and how it is more common in society than people realize.
Despite being one of the top USA gymnasts, she retired from elite gymnastics after failing to make the Rio Olympics in 2016. Nichols believes the failure to qualify is due to her reporting Nassar for his abuse. Her book lays out why she thinks that happened and the following challenges of her life after retiring.
Gymnastics Champion and Beyond
After her professional retirement, Maggie Nichols went on to graduate with a master’s degree in education and dominated the gymnastics competition with eight national titles. She works as a personal trainer in Texas and runs a foundation that advocates for survivors of all types of abuse. She is excited for the Minneapolis Olympic Trials to cheer on her friends and teammates.
I hate to think of what-ifs. I try to see the positive. I wish I could tell my younger self the Olympics isn’t everything. When a door closes, another swings wide open.
Maggie Nichols
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