USA Gymnastics president Li Li Leung, who restored the federation to respectability after it had lost the trust of its athletes, sponsors and the general public in the wake of a horrific sex abuse scandal and its own missteps, is leaving.
Leung announced Thursday that she will step down at the end of the year. USA Gymnastics has already hired CAA Executive Search to find her replacement.
“The opportunity to lead USA Gymnastics has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” Leung said in a statement. “Thanks to the dedication of the entire gymnastics community, we are now in an incredible position as we turn our attention to the L.A. Olympic Games.
“The last several months have been a time of great reflection, and I know that now is the right time to pass the torch to the next leader, with the sport and organization thriving,” she added. “I wanted to ensure the board has the opportunity to conduct a thorough search and also give my successor a long runway into the 2028 Olympic Games.”
A former gymnast, Leung was a longtime NBA executive when USA Gymnastics hired her in early 2019. The job at the time seemed as thankless as it did impossible.
USA Gymnastics was still reeling from the revelations three years earlier that former team and Michigan State physician Larry Nassar had sexually abused Olympic champion Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and hundreds of other girls and young women, often under the guise of medical treatment. USA Gymnastics was facing a lawsuit from Nassar’s survivors, sponsors had fled and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had started the process to decertify the federation.
Leung moved quickly to try and restore trust in the organization, apologizing to the survivors and acknowledging that USA Gymnastics’ harsh culture had fostered the environment that allowed Nassar and physically abusive coaches to prey on athletes. She overhauled the federation’s management team — nearly 70% of the staff has turned over — and initiated a culture centered around the athletes.
USA Gymnastics established an Athlete Bill of Rights in December 2020 and created a program that provides mental health visits for athletes and coaches. It was one of the first federations in the Olympic movement to have therapy dogs at its competitions, a practice that has now spread.
As part of a $380 million settlement reached in 2021, Nassar survivors now have a permanent seat on the USA Gymnastics board. The USOPC also dropped its decertification efforts as part of the settlement.
USA Gymnastics is by no means perfect. There are still complaints of a lack of transparency and insensitivity, and Biles said someone from the federation referred to her as a “gold-medal token” at the Tokyo Olympics. But no one can deny the federation has made tremendous strides under Leung’s leadership, with even Biles acknowledging the cultural change.
That’s also been reflected in the return of big-name sponsors. That includes Nike, which has a five-year deal with the federation that runs through Los Angeles.
“Li Li was the right leader at the right time for USA Gymnastics and accomplished in six years what many thought was not possible,” Kathryn Carson, chair of USA Gymnastics’ board, said in a statement. “Her deep passion for gymnastics and extraordinary dedication to leading transformation has positioned USA Gymnastics to move boldly toward LA28.”
Leung isn’t sure what she’ll do next, saying she’s going to take some time “to reset” before she decides. “I look forward to USA Gymnastics accomplishing great things in 2025 and beyond,” she said.
