The Board of Directors of USA Gymnastics announced that Mary Bono will serve as Interim President and CEO of USA Gymnastics. This follows the resignation of Kerry Perry, who held the position for only nine months. She was heavily criticized for her inaction to protect athletes amid the Larry Nassar abuse scandal.
Bono, a former U.S. Representative for California, has made strides in calling the opioid epidemic to attention and raising the issue of protecting young people from drugs. Board Chair Karen Golz remarked in the official announcement that “Mary is known to be an outstanding communicator who can coalesce people with differing views and perspectives.”
However, an opinionated tweet from September surfaced, seeming to contradict Golz’s statement. Bono tweeted, “Playing in a charity golf tournament raising money for our nation’s Special Forces operators and their families. Unfortunately had these shoes in my bag. Luckily I had a marker in my bag too….” accompanied by a photo of her using a black marker to fill in a white Nike symbol on a pair of black golf shoes.
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The post is in regard to Nike’s advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL player who knelt during the National Anthem as a protest against racial injustice. While the ad wasn’t explicitly political, it brought waves of support and contempt from a divided audience. Mary Bono also retweeted a quote of her own tweet that read “#BoycottNike.”
Why is it problematic? Simply because as a representative of a non-profit organization which operates through the help of sponsors, Bono should not have dished her personal distaste for the company so openly. It is okay for her to have her own opinions, but in a high position of leadership, she must now be aware that she speaks for her organization as a whole.
The tweet caught the eye of Simone Biles, USA Olympic Gold medalist who is individually sponsored by Nike. In response, Simone tweeted: “*mouth drop* don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.” This brings up the fact that several companies withdrew their sponsorships from USA Gymnastics during the recent scandal. USA Gymnastics does not currently have an apparel sponsor since Under Armour ended their partnership in 2017. While calling out Bono, Simone Biles also showed her awareness that the sport needs all the support it can get right now. The abuse scandal and resignation of two CEO’s cast the organization in a poor light, and as it tries to recover, these recent tweets are only worsening its public blunder.
Bono has since deleted her tweets and tried to cover her tracks, tweeting, “I regret the post and respect everyone’s views & fundamental right to express them. This doesn’t reflect how I will approach my position @USAGym I will do everything I can to help build, w/ the community, an open, safe & positive environment.” Fortunately, this sounds positive and puts the organization’s best interest in mind, as it should. She went on tweeting, “Hey all, I know the Tweet will live on but have taken it down to move the focus to all I hope to accomplish on behalf of a great sport & those who are dedicated to it,” followed by, “I look forward to telling my gymnastics story, my vision for the future of the sport and why I wanted the job.” Hopefully, Mary Bono will follow through with her plans to build a better USA Gymnastics community that fosters support, safety, and recognition.
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