Aly Raisman praises Rachael Denhollander for her courage, conviction

Six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman praised Rachael Denhollander for her courage and conviction in Time, as Denhollander was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2018 in their 2018 list of 100 Most Influential people, which was released on Thursday.

Denhollander was the first person to publicly accuse disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar of sexual assault when she told her story to the Indianapolis Star, where it was shared in September of 2016.

As a result of Denhollander telling her story, Nassar was finally arrested in December of 2016 after his victims, of which there are more than 260, were ignored for roughly two decades as institutions such as USA Gymnastics and Michigan State continued to enable his predatory behavior.

Raisman, 23, revealed in November of last year that she, too, was sexually assaulted by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. Four of her seven Olympic teammates from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have also made accusations against the 54-year-old.

The four of Raisman's seven teammates on those two Olympic women's gymnastics teams who have accused Nassar of sexual assault are McKayla Maroney, who did so in October, Gabby Douglas, who did so shortly after Raisman did in November, Simone Biles, who did so in January, and Jordyn Wieber, who also did so in January.

Nassar was given three lengthy prison sentences for his predatory behavior, with the first sentence being a 60-year federal prison sentence on three charges of child pornography and the second and third sentences being 40 to 175-year and 40 to 125-year state prison sentences on seven on three sexual assault charges, respectively.

Raisman was one of 169 people who read victim impact statements during the seven-day sentencing hearing in January that led to Nassar's second sentence of between 40 and 175 years in state prison.

Here is a video of Raisman's testimony.

Denhollander, who was present at this hearing for each of its seven days, also read her statement during it. She was the 169th and final person to do so when she did so on the seventh of the hearing's seven days.

Here is a video of Denhollander's testimony.

Here is what Raisman had to say about Denhollander and her courage and conviction, according to Time.

“'How much is a little girl worth?' That’s the simple yet powerful question Rachael Denhollander posed to a packed Michigan courtroom in January. Rachael, like so many of us, was a victim of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Olympic team doctor, and she was the first to draw public attention to his sexual abuse. But through her strength and resolve, she is a survivor. None of us could have anticipated or prepared for the onslaught of emotions we’d experience just by being in that courtroom. It was overwhelming. And yet Rachael was there for each court session of that sentencing, each impact statement and each fellow survivor. This show of courage and conviction inspired many people to feel less like victims and more like survivors. We still have a long way to go before we achieve all the change that is so desperately needed, and I am grateful to be fighting alongside Rachael, my sister survivor!"

Raisman has become extremely outspoken against Nassar's enablers as a result of this scandal, and she has continued to speak out against them and demand change from them despite the fact that she has experienced tons of unwarranted criticism for doing so.

The 23-year-old Needham, Massachusetts native is undoubtedly a perfect example of the effects of Denhollander's courage and conviction that contributed to finally putting Nassar behind bars where he belongs.