DR GEORGIA CERVIN (2021)

Electrifying athletes like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci helped make women’s artistic gymnastics one of the most popular events in the Olympic Games. But the transition of gymnastics from a women’s sport to a girl’s sport in the 1970s also laid the foundation for a system of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of gymnasts around the world. Georgia Cervin offers a unique history of women's gymnastics, examining how the high-stakes diplomatic rivalry of the Cold War created a breeding ground for exploitation. Sweeping and revelatory, Degrees of Difficulty tells a story of international friction, unexpected cooperation, and the legacy of abuse and betrayal created by the win-at-all-cost attitudes of the Cold War.

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STEJAREL OLARU (2021)

Drawing on 25,000 secret police archive pages, countless secret service intelligence documents, and numerous wiretap recordings, this book tells the compelling story of Nadia’s life and career using unique insights from the communist dictatorship which monitored her. From Nadia’s complex and combustible relationship with her sometimes abusive coaches, Bela and Marta Karolyi, to her mental health struggles and 1978 suicide attempt - the book reflects on burning questions surrounding her defection to the United States and asks - was her defection organised by CIA agents, or was it arranged on the orders of President George Bush himself? What is revealed is a tale of endurance and escape in which one of the world’s greatest gymnasts risked everything for freedom.

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Netflix (2020)

Athlete A is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk. The documentary follows a team of investigative journalists from The Indianapolis Star as they broke the story of doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulting young female gymnasts and the subsequent allegations that engulfed USA Gymnastics (USAG) and its then-CEO Steve Penny. It was released on June 24, 2020, by Netflix. The title refers to gymnast Maggie Nichols who was referred to as "Athlete A" to protect her identity while investigations into her sexual abuse by USAG doctor Larry Nassar were ongoing.

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ROSLYN KERR, NATALIE BARKER-RUCHTI ET AL (2020)

This book lifts the lid on the high pressured, complex world of women’s artistic gymnastics. By adopting a socio-cultural lens incorporating historical, sociological and psychological perspectives, it takes the reader through the sport’s early history as a ‘feminine appropriate’ sport, through its transition to a modern sport, to explore the way gymnasts have experienced intense challenges in coach-athlete relationship and how others involved in the sport, such as parents and medical personnel, have contributed to the reproduction of a highly demanding and potentially abusive sporting culture.

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RACHAEL DENHOLLANDER (2019)

Denhollander, now an attorney and activist, was the first to share her story publicly when the 2016 USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal broke. Her authorial debut reveals how she was groomed and abused as a young gymnast, in plain view of an unsuspecting parent, and how she and other survivors brought serial molester Larry Nassar to justice. Reaching beyond her own narrative, Denhollander explores why victims of sexual assault often stay silent.

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ERIN LEE CARR(2019)

over two decades, Dr. Larry Nassar sexually abused countless female athletes as a physician for the U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team and Michigan State University. Now it's his victims turn to speak in this documentary that highlights their heartbreaking stories--while shining a harsh light on a dangerous system that prioritized winning over everything

Edited by NATALIE BARKER-RUCHTI (2019)

Elite athletes lead a particular way of life, which creates significant learning and shapes their selves. This is the first sociological-pedagogical text to conceptualise athlete learning in elite sport and across athletic careers. It outlines theories of learning and argues for a cultural perspective capturing contextual influence, temporal changes, individual dispositions, and subjectivity.

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BY MARTA PRUS (2017)

An intimate portrait of the world's most outstanding rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun who needs to overcome mental fragility to take part in the Olympic Games.

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DOMINIQUE MOCEANU (2013)

In this riveting New York Times bestseller, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of Olympic gymnastics to look at the true price of success. Glimpsing behind the fame, Off Balance vividly delineates each of the dominating characters who contributed to Moceanu's rise to the top, from her stubborn father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela Karolyi.

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JENNIFER SEY (2008)

Jennifer Sey was belittled and ostracized by much of the gymnastics community for telling the truth in Chalked Up. Yet she not only weathered every blow, she helped build a movement. A fearless and exacting writer, she continues to hold the abusers and enablers accountable. Twelve years after publication, Sey's personal story is as powerful an indictment - and as furious a warning - as anything you'll read in sports. -- Joan Ryan, author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

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JOAN RYAN (1995)

Ryan’s 1995 work of nonfiction details the difficult training regimens endured by young women in competitive sports such as gymnastics and figure skating. The material for the book was largely derived from personal interviews with nearly 100 former gymnasts and figure skaters as well as trainers, sports psychologists, physiologists, and other experts and focuses on the physical and emotional hardships young women endured for the sake of Olympic glory.

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