Chalked Up: My Life in Elite Gymnastics Paperback – 21 Mar. 2019

Jennifer Sey was a world class gymnast in the 1980's. This autobiography is the story of her rise and fall. It takes us from when she was a little child, right up until she retired and also gives us some glimpses of her life as an adult.The book was definitely interesting. I knew very little about Sey, or the gymnastics club Parkettes, before reading the book. Sey suffered some awful abuse at the hands of her coaches, including being forced to train on broken bones, constantly being told she was fat and regularly being emotionally manipulated. She also speaks about other issues in gymnastics such as the politics behind winning and the scandal with Don Peters (who was sexually inappropriate with a number of his gymnasts). It is a heart-breaking story as even at the height or her success Sey still doesn't think she is good enough and despite signs that she was desperately calling out for help she never seemed to get any.However, like Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, this autobiography is a very stark, very negative view of gymnastics. Sey seems to have forgotten why she loved the sport so much. She says that she often wanted to quit the sport, said she hated it, but she never gave a reason as to why she didn't other than she wanted to win.Sey comes across as being very bitter, which is understandable, but didn't endear her to me while reading. She has something negative to say about everyone: her team mates, coaches, judges, friends... everyone, whether it was about their hair or make up or fashion choices. She also makes sweeping generalisation about the sport such as "most of the male coaches...came to gymnastics either as a business opportunity...or through an unseemly interest in being around little girls in leotards". This simply isn't true and it makes gymnastics seem like something it isn't, especially to anyone reading the book who hasn't spent time in the sport.I also found it hard to believe everything Sey says in the book. This is partly because of what I have read online - team members disagreeing with what she has written - and partly because some of what she has said doesn't match up to the footage I have seen of the events. This just means that I would take parts of the book with a pinch of salt.Despite the negatives I would still say this is a fascinating book. It's interesting and really in-depth. Unlike some other gymnastics autobiographies (such as Dominique Moceanu's) it really focuses on gymnastics as opposed to anything else. I think stories like Sey's need to be told because gymnastics during the 80s did come under a lot of criticism and it is important for people to know about it to prevent it happening again. But just because of how bitter Sey seems, and because of other sources, I think maybe some of her memories aren't quite true to fact. Well written and definitely worth a read, but take it with a pinch of salt.

Great seller on amazon, disappointing author. I was a gymnast for years and trained daily yet this girl made the sport I dedicated my life to come across as a daily battle that had to be fought. It was an interesting read in that it was perplexing to see what extremes the human body can be pushed to, but I'm terms of gymnastics I would reccomend Nadia Comaneci or Olga Korbut's book instead. This author came across as an ungrateful brat who even now as an adult, didn't appreciate what had been done for her.

A fantastic book, very inspiring! Also speaks truths about gymnastics as a sport and the lengths that most aspiring gymnasts would go to achieve their goals. Definitely worth a read!!

The story is full of extreme highs and extreme lows - Sey taking you with her on the gymnastics journey from child through to retiring young adult, and life beyond gymnastics briefly at the end. You almost feel the mental and physical pain she endures, so very descriptive and detailed is Sey in this autobiography. It does make you realise that, easy as it looks on TV, this sport is one of the most gruelling. After reading this you'll never be able to watch gymnastics again without knowing what it took for the elites like Sey to get there - true sacrifice and endurance with the highs and lows of pushing the barriers and feeling super human. After reading the book I looked up footage of Sey performing at the Worlds on YouTube - I recommend you do this during reading as I personally liked being able to put faces to the names of the people in the book including Sey. There is a selection of black and white photos in the book too if you don't fancy being a youtube stalker. Her low self esteem is interesting - not once in the book does she actually acknowledge how amazing a gymnast she was, clearly even as an adult she will always be one who plays down her efforts - so read the book and extend it with youtube and see for yourself how skinny she was despite her obsessive and 'chalked up'delusions about her weight, and the eating disorder she documents in (graphic at times) detail.

I was dying to read this book after hearing so much about it but it was hard to find in the u.k. so i was made up to find it here.I found jennifers story very intersesting,she talks about when she first started gymnastics right up till she gave it up.She does say a few things that are quite shocking such as girls being called fat bitches and being slapped by the coach for messing things up.However she admits that she had a bad time mainly due to the fact that she pushed herself all the time and was like that in all parts of her life anyway.I thought this book was really good especially if you like gymnastics (obviously!).

As a non gymnast I found this book very inetersting and even fascinating.The book is more revealing and "outspoken" than the usual run of the mill sports autobiography. Plan to lend the book to a gymnast and see what she thinks of it.