Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters

In the worlds of elite women's gymnastics and figure skating, female athletes must complete ever more dangerous skills to stay on top. They are surrounded by coaches and doctors and in most cases parents who should protect them from harm while they seek to excel in their sport. Unfortunately throughout the 80's and 90's these young athletes, most under the age of 18, had more to fear from their so-called protectors than from any other aspect of their careers. Journalist Joan Ryan explores the trend of younger, smaller, lighter gymnasts and figure skaters beginning with Nadia Comaneci's triumph in the mid-70's and escalating with her coach Bela Karolyi's defection to the USA in the 80s. Interviews with elite gymnasts and their parents uncover horror stories of the quest for Olympic greatness gone wrong. I have no doubt that there are other athletes and parents who successfully navigated the shark-infested waters of elite gymanstics and figure skating, but I also do not question the stories presented here or the impact that these events and experiences had on these young girls. Ryan set out to uncover the seedier side of these sports, and with that she succeeded. Her investigation into the toll these sports take on their promising young talent is devestating in what it reveals. Ryan brings us an inside look at gymnasts we remember, and those we don't. Perhaps the thought process here could be that those were athletes who didn't make the cut - but the important story behind these competitors is that they were set up for failure by parents, coaches, and even doctors who ignored major injuries, eating disorders, crumbling self-esteem, and exhaustion in the name of Olympic gold. Should we as a country be allowing child abuse in order to count ourselves among the top performing nations in the world in these sports? We put in labor laws to keep children from working more than x hours per week based on age, and yet we do not put in any laws that would keep them from practicing upwards of 40 hours a week. Some would say that its not our place to stop these children from becoming great at their craft, however experts question whether these extreme methods of training really do give them an edge or just break their bodies down at alarming speeds. Sadly I didn't find the stories in this book surprising; I find it completely believable, particularly after the Nassar story broke, that the adults who should be protecting young athletes are instead turning a blind eye to anything that would stop their march towards Olympic greatness. We are taught from a young age that competition is king and injury and pain are for the weak - even those of us not in any sort of elite competition are encouraged to work through pain and tiredness, to keep going and finish what we've started. How much worse must that be when so much money and prestige is on the line? The facts that Ryan shares are plain - the gymnasts who broke down and suffered permanent injury, those who even died in the pursuit of their dreams, and those who have survived with many scars can't be ignored. Some parents have since understood their role in the process, while others remain in denial, but ultimately the victims are the young athletes. Some of these girls/women may have made it to their pinnacle of their sport with Olympic victories, but many of them did not and were casualties to be forgotten and cast off by the adults who used them to achieve greatness. The book had a few issues. Much more time was given to gymnastics than figure skating, though they were billed equally as subjects, and as the book progressed the author begin using repetitive examples rather than drawing on new material. Still, the narrative had the impact it needed to impress upon the reader the changes that were needed in these sports. Ryan spelled out just how we'd come to this point, and the effects that it was having on the children and families who got caught up in the glitter of that elusive Olympic gol

This is a terrific book on the state of woman's gymnastics and, to some extent, figure skating, though the primary focus of the book is on gymnastics. It focuses on the enormous demands made upon these young athletes by coaches, trainers, officials, and parents. Some of those demands are so unrealistic as to border on child abuse. There are athletes who are starve themselves, who develop life threatening eating disorders, who perform dangerous maneuvers in the quest for the gold, and who sometimes end up dead or devastatingly injured as a result.There is a lot of backstage dish in the book that is interesting. True life stories, some of which are heartbreaking, flesh out the allegations asserted by the author. The emphasis on being tiny and elfin has had enormous impact on elite female gymnasts. One sees the difference in just by looking comparatively at the women's U.S. Olympic gymnastic teams from 1976 and 1992. The photographs in the book best illustrate this and the comparison bespeaks volumes. Elite gymnastics went from being a woman's sport to a girl's sport, as the author has sagely noted, and the photographs corroborate that assertion. Moreover, while some measures have been taken, such as raising the age for Olympic competition in 2000 from fifteen to sixteen, at the same time the minimum level of difficulty has increased, making an already dangerous sport more dangerous. Remember, elite gymnastics is a sport fraught with the potential for devastating spinal cord injuries. The author recounts a number of these heartbreaking injuries and the circumstances under which they occurred, leaving the reader to ask oneself, "Just what were these coaches thinking? The pressure that some of these girls and young women endure is truly unbelievable. The demands upon them are often unrealistic, stunting not only their physical development, but their social and emotional development, as well. Competing with serious injuries, while taking potent drugs for the excruciating pain, is simply not commensurate with a sensible athletic regimen.Parents who are living their dreams through their children are often as dangerous as unscrupulous and unqualified coaches. Many force their children to compete merely to satisfy their own desires for personal glory, badgering and berating their offspring every step of the way. Coaches, likewise, have their own dreams. Everyone wants to produce Olympians, but at what cost? This is a an excellent book with a lot of information, both anecdotal and empirical. When purchasing the book, however, be sure to get the latest edition, as it has been updated with information on the state of gymnastics as of the year 2000. It also contains 24 pages of photographs, including 8 new pages for the updated edition.

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.

I've been reading all the reviews for this book and am struck by the number of people who say that the book criticises the whole sport of gymnastics and how they/their child have had positive experiences. READ THE BOOK PROPERLY! The author clearly states that gymnastics and figure skating can be rewarding and beneficial for children, and that her book is only focusing on the pressures of gymnastics and skating at an elite/olympic level. Also, yes, eating disorders are not restricted to just gymnasts and skaters, but research has clearly proven that the percentage of gymnasts and skaters suffering from an eating disorder is far, far above the average rate. The atrocities outlined in this book unfortunately do happen and burying our heads in the sand is only going to ensure that they continue to happen.

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.

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.