Chalked Up is a coming of age story that is about my early life spent as a gymnast. I hope you’ll find it has relevance beyond athletics. It’s intended to be the story of one child – me – not an exposé about the sport. It touches on broader issues than gymnastics: athletes who are willing to do anything to be the very best, a culture in which second place means nothing because only winning matters, mother daughter relationships, eating disorders, coming into one’s own. Ultimately, it is for anyone who has ever felt they weren’t good enough, ached to be better than they are, and has grown up to accept the person they were meant to be.
I hope you enjoy the book. Jen Sey website.
At seventeen years old, Jennifer Sey, the 1986 United States National Gymnastics Champion and seven time national team member, was pursuing a path to Olympic fame and gymnastics glory. After an extraordinary comeback from a devastating injury, she was at the top of elite gymnastics — until she gave up her sport and walked away.
CHALKED UP: Inside Elite Gymnastics’ Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams (May 1, 2008 • William Morrow) is the story of one gymnast. But it’s also the story of many championship level athletes who are willing to do anything to be the best. To win at their game, they endure: brutal competition; abusive coaches; dangerous training regimes; intense parental pressure, and a pervasive win-at-all-costs attitude. Now, this former national champion takes us behind the scenes for an eye-opening look at the real world of gymnastics, just in time for the start of the 2008 Olympic Games
“athletes who are willing to do anything to be the very best”
Kerri Strug’s vault on torn ankle ligaments in 1996 in Atlanta captured American hearts and secured Olympic gold for Bela Karolyi’s U.S. team.
