Tracy also said that she had immediately reported a possible case of sexual misconduct to U.S.A. Gymnastics in 2015 after a mother called her to say that Marvin Sharp, the federation’s 2010 coach of the year, had taken a lewd photograph of her daughter. Sharp was arrested on charges of child molestation and sexual misconduct, and he hanged himself in jail.

Tracy has many supporters on all levels of the sport, including Jennie Leonard, who competed as Jennie Thompson on seven national teams, three of them under Tracy’s command. She said Tracy “kind of became my mom and was a very caring person.” Tracy was obsessed with educating herself on safer training methods, Leonard said, and would have been “an amazing choice” for the elite coordinator’s job.

“I think some people are getting an unfair shake right now,” Leonard said.

Tracy said she applied for the U.S.A. Gymnastics development job in August through a posting on the federation’s website and about a week later was interviewed by three federation officials at the national championships in Boston.

Tracy said they asked her questions like, “What would you do if you saw a coach verbally abusing an athlete at a camp or training event?” and made other queries that focused on athlete safety. She said she was asked if she had had any contact with Nassar survivors, and she said yes.

Tracy’s appointment was announced on Aug. 28. Within a day, a backlash began among several Nassar victims, with the three-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman leading the way.

“USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors & has shown no willingness to learn from the past,” Raisman wrote on Twitter. “This is a slap in the face for survivors and further confirmation that nothing at USAG has changed.”