Stephen D. Penny Jr. (born 1964) is an American businessman and sports administrator. Penny was president and CEO of USA Gymnastics from April 4, 2005, to March 16, 2017, and is a key figure in the

USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of gymnasts—primarily minors at the time of the abuse—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. More than 368 people alleged that they were sexually assault ...

Career

Penny began his career in sports as a marketing and promotions assistant for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. His other employment has included work in the travel and tourism industries. Penny has been active within the Olympic movement since joining Turner Broadcasting in 1989 as a research manager for the 1990 Goodwill Games. In 1991, Penny became the director of media and public relations for

USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability leve ...

and eventually became managing director of the United States Cycling Federation, which oversaw the amateur

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

disciplines. Penny left USA Cycling in 1996, returning to his hometown of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

to become Vice President of Bob Walsh Enterprises, focused on business development in conjunction with sports marketing, events, media and consulting.

USA Gymnastics

Penny joined USA Gymnastics in March 1999 as the Senior Vice President, overseeing a variety of areas focused on business development. Within a few years, his responsibilities grew to oversee the marketing, sponsorship, event operations, television and communications, including the management of the

2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 37th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States, from 16 to 24 August 2003. Tie-breakers were not used at this competition. If two gymnasts received identical scores in the event finals, they were ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. Penny was accused by former Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu of being at the forefront of USA Gymnastics ignoring the abuse of gymnasts. She called for his resignation. USA Gymnastics responded by saying that Penny was a leader in ensuring the safety and well-being of USA Gymnastics gymnasts. While being questioned under oath, Penny testified that USA Gymnastics rarely forwarded allegations of child abuse to police or child protective services without being asked because of a belief that there was not a duty to report abuse if USA Gymnastics was a third party to abuse allegations and concern about damaging a coach's reputation if an abuse allegation was false. USA Gymnastics dismissed complaints as hearsay unless they were signed by an alleged abuse victim or a victim's parent. Officials of USA Gymnastics—which is headquartered in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

—may have violated Indiana state law by failing to report abuse allegations. Penny resigned from USA Gymnastics on March 16, 2017.

After USA Gymnastics

When Penny testified before Congress in June 2018 he invoked his fifth amendment rights to avoid answering questions, leading to a cry of shame from one onlooker. On October 17, 2018, the United States Marshals Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force arrested Penny. He is alleged to have tampered with evidence during the investigation of sexual assaults against Larry Nassar. The indictment further alleges that Penny ordered the removal of the documents from the

Karolyi Ranch The USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at Karolyi Ranch or simply Karolyi Ranch in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, southeast of Huntsville, was a gymnastics camp facility which was the site of the main training center for the U ...

that were related to the activities of Nassar. If convicted, Penny would have faced a punishment of 2 to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Evidence tampering charges against Penny have since been dismissed. A dismissal letter filed on April 14, 2022 claimed the following - "there is now insufficient evidence to prosecute according to current law and facts present in the case." The day following his arrest, USA Gymnastics placed Penny on its "permanently ineligible" list of members "per the provisions in SafeSport Code for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, III.A.4, and USA Gymnastics Bylaw 10.14(b)."

Personal life

Penny graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

in 1987, previously attending Mercer Island High School. He has three daughters, triplets born in 2005. Penny is a central figure in the 2020 film '' Athlete A'', a documentary about the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penny, Steve 1964 births 21st-century American businesspeople Living people People from Mercer Island, Washington University of Washington alumni