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!

Kurt Thomas - - On Gymnastics (1980)

Nadia Comaneci - - My Own Story (1981)

Bart Conner - - Winning the Gold (1985)

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

Olga Korbut - - My Story (1992)

Tim Daggett - - Dare to Dream - Tragedy and Triumph: The Heroic Struggle of an Olympic Champion (1992)

Dominique Moceanu - - Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion (1996)

Bela Karolyi - - Feel No Fear: The Power, Passion, and Politics of a Life in Gymnastics (1996)

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/

Lilia Podkopayeva - - Golden Lilia (2000)

Alexandra Marinescu - - The Secrets of a Gymnast (written by Andrei Nourescu)(2003)

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

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

Li Shanshan - - I Am My Own Queen of Balance (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)

Dipa Karmakar - The Small Wonder (written by her coach) (2018)

Jonathan Horton - - Falling Forward: How an Ordinary Kid Failed His Way to His Olympic Dream (2019)

Laurie Hernandez - - I Got This (2020)

Verona van de Leur - - Simply Verona (2020)

Kyle Shewfelt - - Make It Happen: My Story of Gymnastics, the Olympics, and the Positive Power of Sport (2021)

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/

Kaylia Nemour - - The Shadow of Gold (2025)

 

[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!

 

[dweiss324]

Wow seeing all these titles in one place has to be one of the cheesiest lists I've ever seen

 

[IratePanda]

Definitely a boon for ghost writers. I may have missed my calling.

 

[dweiss324]

Somebody get me in touch with suni immediately: "Hmong the best: Gold when you least expected it". I have time

 

[Big_rock_show]

Dominque Moceanu: An American Champion (1996)

Added to the list

 

[cftmoonlight79]

Bela Karolyi also had a book way back when.

 

[Passion]

Dipa Karmakar - The Small Wonder (2018) Karmakar isn't credited as the author (her coach is) but the entire thing is written from her point of view. It's her entire life story from childhood to the Rio Games. The coaches used to beat the kids with sticks and she lives over in the far corner of India so just getting to any domestic competitions was a huge ordeal. Her 4th place in Rio was a big deal. It's about as long as "My Child, My Hero."

Jonathan Hortan has two books "If I had Known: Life Lessons from an Olympic Pro Athlete" (2018) that's just life advice for highschoolers basically (I read it thinking it was going to be an autobiography) and then "Falling Forward: How an Ordinary Kid Failed His Way to His Olympic Dream" (2019) that is his actual autobiography.

Bela Karolyi has "Feel No Fear: The Power, Passion, and Politics of a Life in Gymnastics" (1996) which was interesting, a lot about life and politics when he was in Romania.

Tim Daggett's "Dare to Dream - Tragedy and Triumph: The Heroic Struggle of an Olympic Champion" (1992) is a GREAT read.

Krista Quiner has biographies of Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, and Kim Zmeskal. I'm surprised Zmeskal never wrote a book herself, that's the only one I've ever read on her.

"Kurt Thomas on Gymnastics" (1980)

Kyle Shewfelt - "Make It Happen: My Story of Gymnastics, the Olympics, and the Positive Power of Sport" (2021)

 

[RichardL]

Wow seeing all these titles in one place has to be one of the cheesiest lists I've ever seen

Absolutely dying seeing this, and I've just finished writing a book that quotes liberally from Moceanu's abuse memoir, Off Balance. The gummy is hitting lol "finding my shine" I just can't

 

[Amber]

Lilia Podkopayeva - Golden Lilia
Andre Nourescu - The secrets of a gymnast (the book about Marinescu)

 

[rlayt]

“Belated Karolyi” gave me a chuckle.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

Haha I fixed it

 

[Big_rock_show]

Updated the list!