Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Sey
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 10170
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061351466
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.44092
EAN: 9780061351464
ASIN: 0061351466
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
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Product Description
The true story of the 1986 U.S. National Gymnastics champion whose lifelong dream was to compete in the Olympics, until anorexia, injuries, and coaching abuses nearly destroyed her Fanciful dreams of gold medals and Nadia Comaneci led Jennifer Sey to become a gymnast at the age of six. She was a natural at the sport, and her early success propelled her family to sacrifice everything to help her become, by age eleven, one of America's elite, competing at prestigious events worldwide alongside such future gymnastics' luminaries as Mary Lou Retton. But as she set her sights higher and higher—the senior national team, the World Championships, the 1988 Olympics—Sey began to change, putting her needs, her health, and her well-being aside in the name of winning. And the adults in her life refused to notice her downward spiral. In Chalked Up Sey reveals the tarnish behind her gold medals. A powerful portrait of intensity and drive, eating disorders and stage parents, abusive coaches and manipulative businessmen, denial and the seduction of success, it is the story of a young girl whose dreams would become eclipsed by the adults around her. As she recounts her experiences, Sey sheds light on the destructiveness of our winning-is-everything culture where underage and underweight girls are celebrated and on the need for balance in children's lives.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 simply put, a GREAT personal story - worth reading! July 25, 2008
Jen has done an excellent job of portraying her life as an elite gymnast! Whenever gymnastics were televised, I'd watch! Who didn't watch the "little darlings of the U.S. gymnastics team"? - they were always our hope! Who really knew about the personal strife and endless hours of rigorous training to become a super hero? And, at such a young age! Buy the book, it's SUPERB! I coulnd't put it down...
 Chalked Up July 21, 2008
This book is a very interesting and eye opening look into the world of elite gymnastics. This book is Jennifer Sey's account of what happened to her in her gymnastics career, and everything is from her point of view - she didn't include anything from her parents, or coaches, so it is a one sided story. While Jennifer Sey did make the US national team 7 times, and win the US Championships once, she is not considered to be one the top gymnasts in US history, she is actually someone who was an elite gymnast, but was not considered to be one of the best elite gymnasts. While reading this book you have to remember to keep in mind that she wasn't a huge success as a gymnast, and she has a lot of sour grapes about it.
absorbing and candid July 14, 2008
The subtitle of this book sounds like an Afterschool Special. But "Chalked Up" is actually a fascinating,un-cliched read. The author has a lot of things that set her apart from the "typical" athlete, but also enough in common so that it should resonate with anyone who has trained for and competed in an elite sport.
Sey depicts herself as a sensitive, perfectionistic child whose determination to win came from inside, not just from coaches and parents. As a gymnast, she was emotional, anxiety-prone, and did not receive the attention of many top trainers as a result. But she was hardworking, talented, and managed to distinguish herself in the sport, until pressure and injury made her leave the sport. (Though she excelled in school and went to Stanford, she still considered herself a failure at the time.)
As I read, I sensed a struggle from the author between the desire to tell just how bad it was for her and the other young gymnasts, and another to be fair to the various adults in her life who were not always there for her. One example is that she claims she has not told her parents about the book (until it comes out), but dedicates it to her mom. But I think this ambivalence actually makes the book more interesting, as she attempts to see things (briefly) from her parents and younger brother's viewpoint, and avoids portraying herself as a blameless victim. While there were subjects that seemed too hastily touched on (like sexual abuse by some of the coaches), I'd recommend this book to any gymnast - and perfectionist.
S.D. June 26, 2008
First I want to comment on the review by J.Nichols, posted May 5. Just because J.Nichols doesn't sympathize with Jennifer Sey's account of training at Parkette's doesn't mean J.Nichols' has the facts, yet her attack on Jennifer Sey seems to suggest that. I have seen videos of the training at "Parkettes" and I'm inclined to agree with Jennifer Sey's account. I loved "Chalked Up." I think everybody who is open and has a heart can enjoy and learn something from this book. It is beautifully written, genuine, and extremely entertaining. I think Jennifer Sey is an enormously talented, creative, courageous person with a big heart. I admire her honesty and courage in facing the truth about her past. I think this book has so much to offer.
Her story speaks for many... June 11, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was a gymnast of the 1980s at SCATS in Huntington Beach, CA (then west coast rivals of Parkettes), under the direction of Don Peters. As Class I gymnasts (today's Level 10s) our workouts were combined with the confirmed Elite level athletes, many who were national team members with Jennifer. I was eager to read her book because she was someone I hadn't met but had heard about through the slumber party stories and post-meet adventure chatter at the gym.
It wasn't the tell-all I was expecting, it felt very much like my own story minus the part where I win the 1986 National Championships. I was embarrassed to read her account of Peters giving the "fat speech" before the World Championships-- I thought those speeches were reserved for the members of our private gym where we had daily weight checks. We protected our bulemic and anorexic girls, covered weight gains with really good stories. I even took the fall for one high ranking gymnast's binge and purge weekend when food went missing, rather than out her. I was shocked to read about the chair being thrown at a gymnast-- I thought only our coaches threw tantrums and objects. It felt "good" to hear that I wasn't the only one who had foul language directed at me in the gym. I have a strange sense of peace knowing that we weren't alone. I hear thanks to my injuries I was one of the most expensive gymnasts at SCATS in my time. And it's thanks to those injuries I burned out before I could earn even a bottom of the barrel college scholarship. Where's my: I did my best in gymnastics for 10 years and all I got was a rib removed, a broken foot, a reconstructed ankle, and a broken wrist!" t-shirt?
To the people taking issue with Jennifer's account I say if your experience was different, it was just that: different. Sometimes we feel it necessary to call the dissenter a liar to protect ourselves or correct it with our own version of what we believed happened. 1980s gymnastics was crazy and it's thanks to the gymnasts of that era it is much improved.
To my friend Jen, thank you.
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