Gymnast Maggie Nichols Opens Up About Abuse On Team USA

Maggie Nichols is opening up about the abuse she endured while on Team USA, which she says led to an eating disorder.

The gymnast was on the USA Gymnastics team where she competed alongside teammates Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Madison Kocian at the 2015 World Championships.

Now, Maggie is releasing a new tell-all memoir, in which she details her ongoing struggle with food after she faced demands to lose weight from the USA coordinator.

She also details the sexual abuse she endured from the team's doctor.

As you may know, many of the gymnasts on Team USA accused the team doctor, Larry Nassar,of sexual abuse -- and Maggie was one of those girls. She was the first one on the team to come forward about the abuse in 2015, and the case later went to trial, where Maggie was referred to as 'Athlete A.'

Nassar was later convicted for his crimes.

The sexual abuse from the team doctor was not the only abuse Maggie said she faced as she claims the Team USA coordinator Marta Karolyi demanded the gymnast to be thinner, and the pressure of body image led to an eating disorder.

In her new memoir, Maggie Nichols says that she "worked so hard to get so strong," but at the same time, “I look back, and I want to hug that girl because she was tired and hungry and hurting.”

The gymnast spoke to PEOPLE about her new memoir, admitting that at the time of the gymnastics competition, all she thought about was her weight. “I was young, so I didn’t think about body image before.”

Maggie was tall and had a muscular build, but the team coordinator, Marta Karolyi, said it was a problem, and that she needed to change her body image.

“I did everything to fit myself into the body they wanted. When you want to be the best, you’re willing to do anything to succeed," she explains, adding, "I wanted it so bad.”

She went as far as counting every calorie she consumed and cutting out all carbs from her diet. Karolyi also told her she needed more workouts in addition to her gymnastics training.

“I look back, and I’m like, geez,” she explained of that time in her life. “But in the moment I told myself it was normal.”

Because of the fatigue she endured from not having a nutritious and balanced diet, Maggie Nichols suffered from injuries, which is what led her to see the team doctor, Larry Nassar. As you know, Maggie, amongst many other girls, came forward and accused the doctor of sexually abusing them.

Nassar was convicted for his crimes and the USA Gymnastics spokesperson Jill Greer released a statement, reading, “USA Gymnastics is deeply sorry for the trauma and pain that survivors have endured as a result of this organization’s actions and inactions."

Maggie Nichols’s official memoir is available now.