***Content warning: In this episode, we discuss the ways that individuals used harmful and abusive methods in their coaching tactics and their impact on athletes.***
In this episode, Johanna and Derek are joined by Jennifer Sey, a seven-time member of the United States National Gymnastics team and a 1986 national champion, to discuss her career in gymnastics as well as her work to shed light on some of the harms that have become synonymous with the sport as of late. Since retiring from gymnastics, Jennifer has become a w world-renowned author and producer, publishing the 2008 book Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams and producing of the recent Netflix documentary Athlete A. Jennifer has also worked at Levis for over 20 years and is currently the company’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer.
In the first half of the episode, Jennifer walks us through her experiences as an elite gymnast and the cruelty she faced during her career, before illuminating some of the ways that gymnastics might be considered as a cult. In the second half, we turn our attention to the super-popular Netflix documentary Athlete A and we discuss its significance – both culturally and politically, and some of the ways the sport can move forward despite its problematic past.
Check out Jennifer’s op-ed in The New York Times titled “How Gymnastics Culture Breeds Abuse” and follow her on Twitter @Jennifersey.
For a transcription of this episode, please click here. (Credit @punkademic)
After listening to the episode, check out our recent piece "Canceling the College-Football Season Isn't Enough" published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
__________________________________________________________________________
As always, please like, share, and rate us on your favorite podcast app, and give follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
@Derekcrim
@JohannaMellis
@Nkalamb
@EndofSportPod
www.TheEndofSport.com
Episode 101: Athletes Reimagining College Sport
Episode 100: Critical Sports Scholars on Parenting and Youth Sport
Episode 99: Towards a Public Sociology of Sport
Episode 98: Dehumanization and the NFL Draft with Ben Natan
Episode 97: Universities Are *Choosing* Not To Pay Academic Bonuses to Athletes
Episode 96: On UCLA Gymnastics, Iowa Football, and Ted Lasso
Episode 95: On Transphobia in Capitalist Sport with Karleigh Chardonnay Webb
Episode 94: Pandemic Sport, Convoys, and the Anti-Trans Movement in Sports
Episode 93: Hard Truths about Football with Chris Borland
Episode 92: Institutional Failure and Harm in Canadian Gymnastics with Kim Shore, Part II
Episode 92: Institutional Failure and Harm in Canadian Gymnastics with Kim Shore, Part I
Episode 91: The Wide World of Surveillance in Sport with Courtney M. Cox
Episode 90: Football and Fairness with Johnny Stanton
Episode 89: The NLRB Memo with Jennifer Abruzzo
Episode 88: Athletic Labor and #Striketober
Episode 87: Fighting for #FairBall in the Minors with Harry Marino
Episode 86: On Coercion and Resistance in College Sport
Episode 85: #Striketober with Max Alvarez
Episode 84: The Sports Media Problem with Adam H. Johnson
Episode 83: Progress for Whom? With Britni de la Cretaz
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Coach Carvalho Podcast
From Corner2Corner
Golf Podcast: next on the tee
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The MeatEater Podcast