Event Title
Tumbling into a Crisis: Use of Corporate Apologia after USA Gymnastics Falls off the Balance Beam
Description
In an open letter to U.S. gymnasts on Nov. 5, 2018, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Sarah Hirshland told its more than 150,000 members “You deserve better” as it launched the Nuclear Clause that would revoke USA Gymnastics (USAG) as a governing body for the sport at the Olympic level [1]. This announcement comes in the wake of USAG’s ongoing crisis that includes a failure to protect athletes from team doctor Larry Nassar, imprisoned for sexually abusing more than 350 female gymnasts; investigations tied to Michigan State University; and the turnover of several USAG CEO’s in just two years. The research question addressed in this study asks how gymnastics can recover from a crisis that was decades in the making and two years in the public spotlight. Benoit’s (1997) Image Repair theory as well as Hearit and Courtright’s (2004) social constructionist approach and apologia discourse inform our critical analysis on how and why USAG has tumbled.
DOI
10.30658/icrcc.2019.8
Recommended Citation
Rentner, T. L., & Young, C. (2019). Tumbling into a crisis: U.S. olympic committee’s use of corporate apologia after USA gymnastics falls off the balance beam. Proceedings of the International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference, Volume 2, (pp. 27-30). Orlando, Fl: Nicholson School of Communication and Media. https://doi.org/10.30658/icrcc.2019.8
Included in
Exercise Science Commons, Higher Education Commons, Other Communication Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, Sports Studies Commons
Tumbling into a Crisis: Use of Corporate Apologia after USA Gymnastics Falls off the Balance Beam
In an open letter to U.S. gymnasts on Nov. 5, 2018, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Sarah Hirshland told its more than 150,000 members “You deserve better” as it launched the Nuclear Clause that would revoke USA Gymnastics (USAG) as a governing body for the sport at the Olympic level [1]. This announcement comes in the wake of USAG’s ongoing crisis that includes a failure to protect athletes from team doctor Larry Nassar, imprisoned for sexually abusing more than 350 female gymnasts; investigations tied to Michigan State University; and the turnover of several USAG CEO’s in just two years. The research question addressed in this study asks how gymnastics can recover from a crisis that was decades in the making and two years in the public spotlight. Benoit’s (1997) Image Repair theory as well as Hearit and Courtright’s (2004) social constructionist approach and apologia discourse inform our critical analysis on how and why USAG has tumbled.
