LANSING, Mich. -- Former Olympic gold medalists Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman delivered victim impact statements Friday morning in the case involving disgraced former Team USA physician Larry Nassar.
Wieber told an Ingham County, Michigan, judge Friday that she, too, was sexually assaulted by Nassar, the first time she's publicly revealed the abuse.
Raisman, a three-time gold medalist from the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games, already revealed her abuse in a series of media interviews.
Wieber and Raisman, along with their Olympic teammates Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney, have all publicly accused Nassar. The four women were part of the "Fierce Five" who won team gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
"I thought that training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do," Wieber told the court. "But in fact, the hardest thing I've ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar.
"It has caused me to feel shame and confusion. I have spent months trying to think back on my experience and wonder how I didn't even know this was happening to me and how I became so brainwashed by Larry and everyone at USA Gymnastics. Both of whom I thought were supposed to be on my side."
Raisman made sure to deliver part of her statement directly to Nassar in the courtroom.
"Adult after adult ... protected you," Raisman said to Nassar. "How do you sleep at night? ... You are the person they had 'take the lead on athlete care.' ... I cringe to think that your influence remains in the policies that are supposed to keep athletes safe."
Wieber, now 22, said she started seeing Nassar at age 8 and that he brought her food and coffee at the Karolyi Ranch, the training center for the U.S. national team run by Bela and Martha Karolyi, in order to groom her.
Several former national team members have said Nassar abused them at the training center, where they were obligated to go once a month while on Team USA. On Thursday, USA Gymnastics announced it had severed its relationship with the Karolyi Ranch in Texas and will no longer use it as a training facility.
In her statement, Raisman pointed out that gymnasts were training at the Karolyi Ranch on Thursday, the same day USA Gymnastics issued its statement.
"Talk is cheap," Raisman said in her statement, addressing new USA Gymnastics president and CEO Kerry Perry. "I have never met you and I know you weren't around for most of this. ... Unfortunately, you have taken on an organization that I feel is rotting from the inside."
Wieber says the abuse by Nassar started when she was 14 years old, after she tore the hamstring in her right leg.
"This was when he started performing the procedure that we are all now familiar with. I would cringe at how uncomfortable it felt," Wieber said. "He did it time after time, appointment after appointment, convincing me that it was helping my hamstring injury. And the worst part was that I had no idea that he was sexually abusing me for his own benefit.
"I knew it felt strange, but he was the national team doctor. Who was I to question his treatments or, even more, risk my chance at making the Olympic team or being chosen to compete internationally?"
Wieber said she spoke with teammates Maroney and Raisman about this treatment and "how uncomfortable it made us feel."
Said Wieber: "None of us really understood it."
""Adult after adult ... protected you," Raisman said to Nassar. "How do you sleep at night? ... You are the person they had 'take the lead on athlete care.' ... I cringe to think that your influence remains in the policies that are supposed to keep athletes safe."" Comments by Aly Raisman to Larry Nassar in court during the Olympian's victim impact statement Friday
Like Raisman, Maroney, Douglas, Simone Biles and other Team USA members, Wieber laid the blame for Nassar's abuse at the doorstep of USA Gymnastics, the sport's governing body, pointing out that her parents were not allowed to accompany her to the Karolyi Ranch when she was a minor.
"I was not protected, and neither were my teammates. My parents trusted USA Gymnastics and Larry Nassar to take care of me, and we were betrayed by both," Wieber said. "... The lack of accountability from USAG, USOC and Michigan State have caused me and many other girls to remain shameful, confused and disappointed."
Added Raisman: "For this sport to go on, we need to demand real change. ... If ever there was a need to fully understand a problem, it is this one right now. ... We need an independent investigation of exactly what happened."
Nassar was employed full time as an osteopathic physician at Michigan State during his time as national medical coordinator for Team USA. He worked for the U.S. women's team as a volunteer.
Approximately 120 women or their advocates are expected to address the court during Nassar's hearing in Ingham County, Michigan.
Nassar, who has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison for federal child pornography charges, faces an additional prison sentence of 25 to 40 years in the Ingham County case. The Attorney General's office has asked for a 125-year sentence.
The actual sentencing is expected to be delivered Tuesday.
Raisman and Wieber, the latter of whom grew up in the Lansing area and is considered a local hero in the gymnastics community, were greeted with loud applause after delivering their impact statements Friday.
"I'm an Olympian," Wieber said. "Despite being abused, I worked so hard and managed to achieve my goal. But I want everyone, especially the media, to know that despite my athletic achievements, I am one of over 140 women and survivors whose story is important.
"Our pain is all the same. And our stories are all important."