Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman’s powerful condemnation of the gymnastics team doctor who molested her became a rallying cry for participants in the women’s marches nationwide this weekend.
Raisman spoke Friday during the sentencing for former team doctor Larry Nassar, who has admitted to molesting young girls under his care and pleaded guilty to seven counts of of criminal sexual conduct. He’s expected to be sentenced for those crimes this week.
“I have both power and voice and I’m only beginning to just use them,” she said.
Scott Bregman spotted that statement on a sign at Saturday’s women’s march in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Mallory Winkler, a 19-year-old sophomore at Marquette University, thanked Raisman for inspiring her to participate in the march in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Winkler told CNN that she’s been a fan of Raisman since the 2012 Olympics and once stood in line for three hours to meet her.
She said she’s been following the case closely and couldn’t help but cry when she listened to Raisman’s statement.
“I’ve been in support of the women’s movement and Time’s Up, but it wasn’t until I saw Aly’s response and realized how strong she was to face the man who sexually assaulted her, that I thought I should go to the march that day and support her and her courage,” she said.
Raisman shared some of the messages on Twitter and said she was overwhelmed by the support.
“Woahhhh. Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. I didn’t expect this. The support has been more than I could’ve ever imagined. Thank you for listening,” she said.