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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6153 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Released on: 2008-04-22
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Kathryn Bertine, ESPN columnist and author of All the Sundays Yet to Come: A Skater's Journey
"A cautionary tale to not just athletes, parents, coaches, and judges but to fans of gymnastics… intense, gripping, and powerful."

Jake Tapper, Senior National Correspondent, ABC News
"A remarkably candid, unblinking portrait of what it truly takes to become a champion…that may forever alter the way you watch sports."

International Gymnast
"Chalked Up pulls no punches…Sey's writing is brilliant…offering perceptive psychoanalysis of everyone in her isolated world…Chalked Up is proof that she still has alot of guts."

Customer Reviews

Women's gymanstics - child abuse?
This is the story of Jennifer Sey, the 1986 U S National Gymnastic Champion. The book tells us of her mindset, what drove her to compete and what it took for her to reach that level of competition. It begins at the age of 3 when she learned her first cartwheel, and takes us through to the present. What she went through on a mental and physical level to reach a goal is both inspiring and upsetting, as is what's next for a person, still so young, who has spent their entire life in training for a small window of opportunity.

We're told of many things that you wouldn't normally hear about unless you were involved in, or knew someone in this field. From the mental and verbal abuse by some coaches to manipulate their athlete into the proper mindset. The politics which often don't reward the person with the best performance. Training and performing through injuries that would have most of us totally side-lined. The issues with weight, eating, sacrifice of the family, etc, etc.

I dare you to NOT think of this book when watching a women's gymnastic event after reading what the girls go through to reach this point.

The book was written in a way that was easy to read, and I thought gives us a good idea of what takes place beyond what we see on TV. And while we see what we may interpret as the horror of a young life, the author doesn't blame others for much of what she goes through. It's her own thoughts, fears and determination that bring her to where she is in life.

Honest, insightful and very necessary
I just finished Chalked Up. It is extraordinary. What could have come off as a predictable indictment of a sport is actually a rare journey into the minds of young people who have the uncommon focus and drive to achieve greatness at a young age. While the negative factors mentioned in the sub title are presented and discussed realistically, it is Ms. Sey's willingness to explore her own culpability as a driven athlete that make this book relevant to a much broader audience than former gymnasts and gymnastics enthusiasts. Not everyone's child will strive to be amazing at a young age. But, how fortunate to have a book that reinforces the importance of communicating with your child and helping provide big picture perspectives to children until they are old enough to make informed decisions that will affect their long-term mental and physical health. Ms. Sey is a courageous and gracious woman and writer.

An incredible page turner -- a wonderful coming of age story
I couldn't put this book down! Even though I knew the outcome of Sey's Olympic ambitions, I read it in one siting anxious to know how the story ended. Well beyond a report on the sport of gymnastics, this biography is a must read for anyone who's ever dreamed of being the best -- at anything. Through her incredible candor, Sey illuminates the destruction that can come from ever striving to be the best at all costs. This is a terrific coming of age story for anyone, at any age.