***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.
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@Derekcrim
@JohannaMellis
@Nkalamb
@EndofSportPod
www.TheEndofSport.com
Episode 81: ‘Family,‘ Race, and College Football with Tracie Canada
Episode 80: Inside/Out of the Sports Media Complex with Joel D. Anderson
Episode 79: Status Coercion in College Sport with Erin Hatton
Episode 78: “Understanding Gymnastics on its Own Terms” with Dvora Meyers, Part II
Episode 77: “Understanding Gymnastics on its Own Terms” with Dvora Meyers, Part I
Episode 76: Abolishing the Olympics with Jonny Coleman of NOlympics LA
Episode 75: Unfiltered with Kaiya McCullough
Episode 74: Buying Unicorns with Dogecoin at the Tokyo Olympics with Jules Boykoff
Episode 73: On the Rich Aquatic History of the Black Diaspora with Naji Ali
Episode 72: College Sport 'Apocalypse'
Episode 71: On Trans and Non-Binary Sporting Inclusion with Verity Smith and Abby Barras
Episode 70: Gender Expansive Gymnastics with Half In, Half Out
Episode 69: One Year
Episode 68: How Texas Changed the Culture of Athletics with Frank Guridy
Episode 67: Black Feminism and Contemporary Sports Culture with Dr. Letisha Brown
Episode 66: The Plantation Dynamics of College Sport
Episode 65: College Football and the Re-making of Oklahoma with Andrew McGregor
Episode 64:The College Sports Media Problem
Episode 63: On the NWHL, *That* Media Company, and the “Girlboss” Ethos with Natalie Weiner and Hemal Jhaveri
Episode 62: Covid-19 and College Basketball with Jordan Bohannon
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