Gymnast's Memoir Books

[Big_rock_show]

Because QuietColours has been so amazing in summarizing books for us, I thought I'd make a list of what gymnast/coach memoirs I could find (I'm sure there are many more!) and link back to some of the book summaries that QuietColours has already graciously done for us.

Here's the list!

Nadia Comaneci - - My Own Story (1981)

Mary Lou Retton - - MLR: Creating An Olympic Champion (1985)

Olga Korbut - - My Story (1992)

Kerri Strug - - Landing On My Feet (1997)

Shannon Miller - - Winning Every Day (1998)

Claudia Miller - - Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero (1999)
https://gymnaverse.com/threads/shannon-miller-my-child-my-hero-by-claudia-miller.5882/

Jennifer Sey - - Chalked Up: My Life in Elite Gymnastics (2009)

Nadia Comaneci - - Letters to a Young Gymnast (2011)

Shawn Johnson - - Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams (2012)

Dominique Moceanu - - Off Balance (2013)

Gabrielle Douglas - - Grace, Gold and Glory (2013)

Andreea Raducan - - The Other Side Of The Medal (2013)

Shannon Miller - - It’s Not About Perfect (2015)

Nastia Liukin - - Finding My Shine (2015)

Aly Raisman - - Fierce (2018)

Simone Biles - - Courage To Soar (2018)

Laurie Hernandez - - I Got This (2020)

Verona van de Leur - - Simply Verona (2020)

Rachael DenHollander - - What Is A Girl Worth? (2022)

Chellsie Memmel - - Chellsie’s Challenges (2023)

Leanne Wong - - My Journey: Trust the Process (2024)
https://gymnaverse.com/threads/my-journey-trust-the-process.4926/

Maggie Nichols - - Unstoppable!: My Journey from World Champion to Athlete A to 8-Time NCAA National Gymnastics Champion and Beyond (2024)

Jordan Chiles - - I’m That Girl (2025)

Aimee Boorman - - The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles (2025)
https://gymnaverse.com/threads/the-balance-by-aimee-boorman.4099/

 

[eanda]

Thanks for the list! I think I kept Nadia's My Own Story on permanent renewal from the library when it came out.

Was Alexandra Marinescu's book ever published in English?

Not sure about the interest in MAG, but Kurt Thomas wrote "On Gymnastics" (1980).

 

[IratePanda]

Bart Conner also published a memoir, Winning the Gold, in 1985. It includes some interesting anecdotes from Romania's 1981 US tour, when the Karolyis defected.

2008 Olympian Li Shanshan published a memoir in Chinese maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I read parts of it then, but I don't remember much. If I can find it again, I could try to translate it, but it would have to be a summer project, LOL.

Kaylia Nemour just published a book, if we have any Francophones here? (My French sucks.)

 

[eanda]

Kaylia Nemour just published a book, if we have any Francophones here? (My French sucks.)

I can be on standby if we don't have a fluent speaker able to do this one. I'm far from fluent but read at a decent level.

 

[RedBirdie]

Tim Dagget also has a book. Been 30ish years since I read it, but if you've ever wondered how one returns home from overseas with a leg that is shattered into approximately one million pieces, that book will satisfy your curiosity.

 

[irichluck21]

Dominque Moceanu: An American Champion (1996)

 

[Passion]

It's absolutely insane what Tim Daggett went through.

 

[Sasha]

I'm not a francophone but I am fluent in French.

 

[QuietColours]

I'm decent but definitely not fluent in French, so I will happily let someone who can do a better job with that one take it. I've got Kerri's book right now, and I've penciled in Sey's book for after that based on what people were saying in the book thread!