Product Description

From starvation diets and debilitating injuries to the brutal tactics of tyrannical gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi, "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" portrays the horrors endured by girls at the hands of their coaches and sometimes their own families. An acclaimed expose that has already helped reform Olympic sports -- now updated to reflect the latest developments in women's gymnastics and figure skating -- it continues to plead for sanity, safety, and an end to our national obsession: winning at any cost.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #207364 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"The female gymnast's career is a race against time and nature," writes San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Ryan, and the same appears to be true of world-class female figure skaters. In both sports, the contemporary ideal is a girl with a boy's body: sans breasts and hips. To achieve this "ideal," the athletes overtrain at a time when their skeletal development is supposed to be the greatest, suffering injuries to vertebrae, arms and legs at the same time that they are constantly being ordered to lose weight. The result: anorexia and bulimia. This expose, which absolves the exploited trainees of most blame?though some are apparently monomaniacal about becoming Mary Lou Rettons or Dorothy Hamills?is scathing on the subjects of parents, coaches, judges, the U.S. Gymnastic Federation and the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Ryan concludes that females aged 13 to 18 are not only exploited but abused. Such a powerful plea for reform may have some results.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?In an attempt to focus attention on the high price paid through pain, pressure, and humiliation to become an Olympic champion, Ryan has researched the stories behind some of the young female superstar gymnasts and figure skaters. The extraordinary cost to these young women in body, mind, and spirit is dramatized through the intense subculture dominated by gyms, trainers, parents, and sports officials who press for excellence and success without regard to the health and well-being of those involved. This anecdotal account serves as a warning to all those engaged in competitive sports that children should not be sacrificed to adult egos and the thrills of victory. A book to be pondered by coaches, parents, and young people.?Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School Library, Upper Marlboro, MD
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ryan, an award-winning columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, offers disturbing anecdotal evidence indicating that women's gymnastics and figure skating are physically and psychologically damaging to a majority of participants with realistic Olympic aspirations. Ryan's emphasis is on gymnastics; figure skating is a cutthroat sport, to be sure, and it encourages bulimia, but compared to gymnastics, it's almost pristine. Ryan documents that between the years 1976^-92, the average U.S. Olympic gymnast became a year younger, six and one-half inches shorter, and 23 pounds lighter. The sport not only attracts tiny girls, it manufactures them: these days the demanding physical requirements of championship women's gymnastics can only be met by prepubescent, very light, very flexible girls. Control their weight through intimidation, delay the onset of puberty via exhaustion and starvation, and voila{ }! You've got little girls forever. But by delaying puberty, one also inhibits the production of estrogen, which is essential for adult bone density. There are now former gymnasts in their twenties with the bone density of 90-year-olds. Equally damaging is the obsession with weight passed on to young gymnasts by their coaches. Onetime Olympic hopeful Christie Henrich weighed less than 50 pounds when she slipped into a coma in July_ 1994 and died. Ryan portrays the gymnastic training of Olympic hopefuls as systemic, sanctioned child abuse. It's a nightmare vision that may forever change one's image of those herculean efforts by such Olympian pixies as Olga Korbutt and Mary Lou Retton. Expect this shocking expose{‚}to attract major media attention. Wes Lukowsky

Customer Reviews

Shocking and engrossing.
I think most of the people who gave this book negative reviews are in denial. You can't deny how competitive women's gymnastics and skating are, and how much emphasis is placed on appearance and on winning (look at how Kerri Strug was basically forced to do a vault with a severely injured ankle in the 1996 Olympics--"shake it off," indeed). Even those of us who are merely spectators can see what a high-pressure situation it is, and you can't deny the truth of the stories of Julissa Gomez, Christy Heinrich, and the others. The author is not calling for the abolishment of these sports, just for some changes that might actually make competing a positive, enjoyable experience for the athletes. I hope coaches and parents of the athletes read this book and take it seriously, but most of them will probably deny that it applies to them. Highly recommended.

Important read!
I was a competitive and professional figure skater and am now a coach. In this book, Joan Ryan says what needs to be said. It is true, as some other reviewers have mentioned, that not all skaters and gymnasts have negative experiences and it's wonderful to see when gymnasts and figure skaters do have positive, enriching experiences in their sports. However, this is the exact reason that it is so important for us to be aware of the inclinations within each sport that can produce devastatingly negative experiences, so that we can improve these conditions to produce positive experiences for more athletes. I know of many, many skaters who have suffered physical and psychological damage - eating disorders, low self-esteem, self mutilation, etc. - when their love and dedication to the sport was abused (probably unintentionally or unknowingly) by various influences in the figure skating world. It is helpful for all of us who love figure skating and/or gymnastics to face our sport's weaknesses and use criticism constructively. Problems come bearing solutions; the first step is to identify the problems. Ryan does an excellent job of this in this book.

Close to My Heart
This book was very hard to read because my cousin died. Cause of death - Gymnastics. Her name was Julissa Gomez, she was one of the featured gymnasts. She was a wonderful person. She was beutiful. And thanks to the pressure of it all she the world will never have the opportunity to know just how good a person she was. This book was hard to read for myself and for my entire family who all loved Julissa. I remember my other cousin (her sister) and I going with her to gym when I was little we would be there for hours and hours and hours at a time we'd eat there. We'd get there in the morning and leave in the evening. I used to think it was amazing what my cousin could do. I used to be amazed by the perfectness of it all. Now as the olympic comes around I am soured to the gymnastics. I fear for other families to have to go thru what my family, especially my aunt went thru for years after the accident until her death. Be careful when you put your daughter into sports. Julissa, I love you and miss you, may god bless you.