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Degrees of Difficulty: How Women's Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell from Grace
How the Cold War era changed the trajectory of women's gymnastics
Electrifying athletes like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci helped make women’s artistic gymnastics one of the most popular events in the Olympic Games. But the transition of gymnastics from a women’s sport to a girl’s sport in the 1970s also laid the foundation for a system of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of gymnasts around the world. Georgia Cervin offers a unique history of women's gymnastics, examining how the high-stakes diplomatic rivalry of the Cold War created a breeding ground for exploitation. Yet, a surprising spirit of international collaboration arose to decide the social values and image of femininity demonstrated by the sport. Cervin also charts the changes in style, equipment, training, and participants that transformed the sport, as explosive athleticism replaced balletic grace and gymnastics dominance shifted from East to West. Sweeping and revelatory, Degrees of Difficulty tells a story of international friction, unexpected cooperation, and the legacy of abuse and betrayal created by the win-at-all-cost attitudes of the Cold War.
Electrifying athletes like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci helped make women’s artistic gymnastics one of the most popular events in the Olympic Games. But the transition of gymnastics from a women’s sport to a girl’s sport in the 1970s also laid the foundation for a system of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of gymnasts around the world. Georgia Cervin offers a unique history of women's gymnastics, examining how the high-stakes diplomatic rivalry of the Cold War created a breeding ground for exploitation. Yet, a surprising spirit of international collaboration arose to decide the social values and image of femininity demonstrated by the sport. Cervin also charts the changes in style, equipment, training, and participants that transformed the sport, as explosive athleticism replaced balletic grace and gymnastics dominance shifted from East to West. Sweeping and revelatory, Degrees of Difficulty tells a story of international friction, unexpected cooperation, and the legacy of abuse and betrayal created by the win-at-all-cost attitudes of the Cold War.
- GenresNonfictionSportsHistory
302 pages, Paperback
Published June 15, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 25, 2023
Unless one is a student of the history of the sport of gymnastics, there is probably little chance that person has watched the sport outside of the Olympics. That would be a shame for the sport has quite an interesting history and touches many of the social issue challenges that are being addressed today. This book by Georgia Cervin covers many of these topics as well as some political history as well.
From the Cold War in the 1970s up to the sexual assault cases of Larry Nassar and others, Cervin doesn’t leave any issue relevant to gymnastics untouched. She does a good job of tying in the sport’s issues to the larger picture of the day. This is the case whether it was gymnastics being used as a means of diplomacy during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union or whether attempts at making the sport more diverse are successful. On the latter, Cervin highlights the accomplishments of gymnasts of color such as Dominique Dawes and Simone Biles.
This is a scholarly work and reads as such, with each chapter organized by an introduction, body and conclusion. There are not a lot of personal biographies, but in addition to the aforementioned athletes, Cervin portrays other well known gymnasts such as Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci. The latter two are especially prominent in Cervin’s discussion about how the sport changed in its scope from artistic ability and the femininity of the gymnasts. This parallels the expanding role women were playing in all areas of society.
There are also chapters that are strictly about the sport and not with any comparison to social or political issues. The scandals involving scoring and the “disappearance” of the perfect score of 10 are topics in which Cervin discusses with just as much knowledge and depth as she does the social and political topics.
This book is well worth the time and effort to read. If one is not well versed in gymnastics, it might take a little more time for the reader to fully understand the topics, but that reader will learn a lot about the interesting history of this sport.
I wish to thank University of Illinois for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Cold War in the 1970s up to the sexual assault cases of Larry Nassar and others, Cervin doesn’t leave any issue relevant to gymnastics untouched. She does a good job of tying in the sport’s issues to the larger picture of the day. This is the case whether it was gymnastics being used as a means of diplomacy during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union or whether attempts at making the sport more diverse are successful. On the latter, Cervin highlights the accomplishments of gymnasts of color such as Dominique Dawes and Simone Biles.
This is a scholarly work and reads as such, with each chapter organized by an introduction, body and conclusion. There are not a lot of personal biographies, but in addition to the aforementioned athletes, Cervin portrays other well known gymnasts such as Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci. The latter two are especially prominent in Cervin’s discussion about how the sport changed in its scope from artistic ability and the femininity of the gymnasts. This parallels the expanding role women were playing in all areas of society.
There are also chapters that are strictly about the sport and not with any comparison to social or political issues. The scandals involving scoring and the “disappearance” of the perfect score of 10 are topics in which Cervin discusses with just as much knowledge and depth as she does the social and political topics.
This book is well worth the time and effort to read. If one is not well versed in gymnastics, it might take a little more time for the reader to fully understand the topics, but that reader will learn a lot about the interesting history of this sport.
I wish to thank University of Illinois for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
April 3, 2021
Degrees of Difficulty is a really interesting look at women’s artistic gymnastics and how the sport has changed over the years. Georgia Cervin details how women’s gymnastics played into the Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. She writes about a multitude of factors that ended up transforming the sport from mostly being a women’s sport to a young girl’s sport starting in the 70s. Athletes having to be amateurs, not be seen as too “masculine,” and increased acrobatic skills that were believed to be easier for smaller bodies all played a part in this shift.
The imbalance of power between mostly adult male coaches and mostly young girls as the athletes has led to instances of abuse over many years and in many different countries. While Cervin does spend a good amount of time discussing the Karolyi ranch and all the problems with the US system, she makes it clear that this wasn’t just an issue with one set of coaches, it’s systemic in so many different programs and federations.
The book covers so many different interesting topics. Race, the role of femininity in gymnastics, scoring scandals, unfair practices in penalizing countries for age falsifications, and so much more. I’m not sure how accessible this book will be to readers who don’t already have a pretty good knowledge of the sport. But reading this as a fan was super rewarding & fascinating. I do think that the book starts off a little bit slow. I personally didn’t find the information about the very beginning of gymnastics to be quite as compelling as the information that’s about the sport from the 1950s onward. But overall this was a great read.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The imbalance of power between mostly adult male coaches and mostly young girls as the athletes has led to instances of abuse over many years and in many different countries. While Cervin does spend a good amount of time discussing the Karolyi ranch and all the problems with the US system, she makes it clear that this wasn’t just an issue with one set of coaches, it’s systemic in so many different programs and federations.
The book covers so many different interesting topics. Race, the role of femininity in gymnastics, scoring scandals, unfair practices in penalizing countries for age falsifications, and so much more. I’m not sure how accessible this book will be to readers who don’t already have a pretty good knowledge of the sport. But reading this as a fan was super rewarding & fascinating. I do think that the book starts off a little bit slow. I personally didn’t find the information about the very beginning of gymnastics to be quite as compelling as the information that’s about the sport from the 1950s onward. But overall this was a great read.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 14, 2021
"Degrees of Difficulty" is an interesting (albeit troubling) overview of the titular difficulties plaguing women's gymnastics.
Georgia Cervin approaches the subject with a funnel technique informed by history and personal experience. Before we even get to the subject of women's gymnastics, Cervin takes us to the origins of the sport: how gymnastics started as a discipline, as well as how women found their way into amateur and later competitive sports. The latter part unfortunately ties into one of society's favorite pass-times: policing women's aesthetics and childbearing abilities. Will sports harm fertility? Or make women less feminine? How old can women be when competing, and how should they square that with being good wives? These are all questions that shaped many women's sports, not just gymnastics, and defined the events specific to women. Didn't you ever wonder why men's gymnastics are completely different?
Once Cervin reaches the late Cold War period where women's gymnastics are more recognizable, the sport's difficulties only magnify. Viewership, political value, sponsorships, athletic prestige, all of these elements have compounded existing problems and created new ones. Cervin's principal theory of how these problems can be traced back to "girls' gymnastics" rather than "women's gymnastics" makes a lot of sense. Power imbalances are endemic to a lot of competitive sports where the participants are young and the stakes are high, but make the participants children still in their teens and the results are devastating.
Cervin proposes some interesting solutions at the end, namely raising the minimum age for competition so that coaches will have to find ways of training athletes in more sustainable, long-term ways not based on still-developing physiques. The last few years' coverage of high-profile investigations into physical, psychological, and ethical abuses have made it clear that the problems of women's gymnastics are not going away until some serious changes take place, and listening to the athletes' voices is the most important step.
Overall, I wish the writing style were more engaging, but the substance and thrust of the book make for a very edifying read.
Any sports fan should give this a try, even if they only know about women's gymnastics from headlines and the occasional clip of Simone Biles winning yet another national title. (And on a side note, Simone Biles fans will definitely appreciate learning about what an amazing achievement her sustained success is in the context of a sport that favors short-term careers.)
Thank you to University of Illinois Press and Netgalley for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Georgia Cervin approaches the subject with a funnel technique informed by history and personal experience. Before we even get to the subject of women's gymnastics, Cervin takes us to the origins of the sport: how gymnastics started as a discipline, as well as how women found their way into amateur and later competitive sports. The latter part unfortunately ties into one of society's favorite pass-times: policing women's aesthetics and childbearing abilities. Will sports harm fertility? Or make women less feminine? How old can women be when competing, and how should they square that with being good wives? These are all questions that shaped many women's sports, not just gymnastics, and defined the events specific to women. Didn't you ever wonder why men's gymnastics are completely different?
Once Cervin reaches the late Cold War period where women's gymnastics are more recognizable, the sport's difficulties only magnify. Viewership, political value, sponsorships, athletic prestige, all of these elements have compounded existing problems and created new ones. Cervin's principal theory of how these problems can be traced back to "girls' gymnastics" rather than "women's gymnastics" makes a lot of sense. Power imbalances are endemic to a lot of competitive sports where the participants are young and the stakes are high, but make the participants children still in their teens and the results are devastating.
Cervin proposes some interesting solutions at the end, namely raising the minimum age for competition so that coaches will have to find ways of training athletes in more sustainable, long-term ways not based on still-developing physiques. The last few years' coverage of high-profile investigations into physical, psychological, and ethical abuses have made it clear that the problems of women's gymnastics are not going away until some serious changes take place, and listening to the athletes' voices is the most important step.
Overall, I wish the writing style were more engaging, but the substance and thrust of the book make for a very edifying read.
Any sports fan should give this a try, even if they only know about women's gymnastics from headlines and the occasional clip of Simone Biles winning yet another national title. (And on a side note, Simone Biles fans will definitely appreciate learning about what an amazing achievement her sustained success is in the context of a sport that favors short-term careers.)
Thank you to University of Illinois Press and Netgalley for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 2, 2021
When you think of gymnastics, you may think of girls in sparkly leotards at the Olympic every four years. Maybe you remember seeing performances by the Magnificent Seven, the Fierce Five, or the Final Five. Your view of the sport might be a negative one due to the Larry Nassar scandal and other stories of abuse in gymnastics. If you're a casual Olympics viewer looking to learn more about the sport, or a devoted fan interested in more historical context, Degrees of Difficulty is a great book to pick up!
Georgia Cervin represented New Zealand internationally as an elite gymnast, so she brings a wealth of personal experience to this book. She takes the reader on a journey through gymnastics from its very beginnings, before it was an Olympic sport, to the balletic era of Larisa Latynina, to the acrobaticization of the sport by gymnasts like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci, to the end of the perfect 10 and the dominance of American gymnasts like Simone Biles. Along the way, Cervin explains how gymnastics was shaped by and helped shape geopolitics, particularly the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union.
Cervin explores how the ideal gymnast morphed from a feminine woman to an athletic pixie, noting the wide ranging consequences of this transition. Cervin also gives the reader a look into the harmful powerful structures in gymnastics that enabled abusers like Don Peters and Larry Nassar - abuse in gymnastics is not the case of one bad apple, but a rotten tree that allows coaches to manipulate and abuse their athletes. But the story is not without a glimmer of hope - stories of gymnasts like Simone Biles asserting their strength and examples of healthy coaching by Liang Chow and others show us that gymnastics can be a worthwhile, rewarding pursuit. While the beginning of the book is a little dry, the political, cultural, and feminist discussions in later chapters really shine.
Thank you to the University of Illinois Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Georgia Cervin represented New Zealand internationally as an elite gymnast, so she brings a wealth of personal experience to this book. She takes the reader on a journey through gymnastics from its very beginnings, before it was an Olympic sport, to the balletic era of Larisa Latynina, to the acrobaticization of the sport by gymnasts like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci, to the end of the perfect 10 and the dominance of American gymnasts like Simone Biles. Along the way, Cervin explains how gymnastics was shaped by and helped shape geopolitics, particularly the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union.
Cervin explores how the ideal gymnast morphed from a feminine woman to an athletic pixie, noting the wide ranging consequences of this transition. Cervin also gives the reader a look into the harmful powerful structures in gymnastics that enabled abusers like Don Peters and Larry Nassar - abuse in gymnastics is not the case of one bad apple, but a rotten tree that allows coaches to manipulate and abuse their athletes. But the story is not without a glimmer of hope - stories of gymnasts like Simone Biles asserting their strength and examples of healthy coaching by Liang Chow and others show us that gymnastics can be a worthwhile, rewarding pursuit. While the beginning of the book is a little dry, the political, cultural, and feminist discussions in later chapters really shine.
Thank you to the University of Illinois Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 15, 2024
4.5 rounded
A really great history and analysis that ticks my personal boxes of interest in Cold War history and love of gymnastics. I've struggled to find nuanced histories of gymnastics for adult audiences. Typically options for gym related reading I've found are: sexual abuse, YA introductions to the sport, or YA bios. Those don't interest me at this point, so I this was a delightful surprise to find when searching the library catalogue. Though I disagreed on a few points -to be expected in a more academic text- I actually learned a lot. Solid exploration of history and power dynamics politically and on the athlete level. Really glad this exists and hope more researchers and books to follow!
A really great history and analysis that ticks my personal boxes of interest in Cold War history and love of gymnastics. I've struggled to find nuanced histories of gymnastics for adult audiences. Typically options for gym related reading I've found are: sexual abuse, YA introductions to the sport, or YA bios. Those don't interest me at this point, so I this was a delightful surprise to find when searching the library catalogue. Though I disagreed on a few points -to be expected in a more academic text- I actually learned a lot. Solid exploration of history and power dynamics politically and on the athlete level. Really glad this exists and hope more researchers and books to follow!
April 19, 2021
A super interesting and thoroughly informative academic look at the history of women’s artistic gymnastics written by former elite New Zealand gymnast, Georgia Cervin. Despite this there are no personal insights, as I was expecting, nonetheless, it’s clear the writer’s experience within the sport has helped her research. For this reason, I think this book requires readers to have a broad knowledge of gymnastics already.
Nothing is off limits; from a look at how hairstyles and outfits worn by the gymnasts have changed over the years, how external politics have influenced the sport as well as the politics within the IOC and FIG, and the corruption and abuse from coaches and officials (the cases of former gymnasts Elena Mukhina and Julissa Gomez are referenced here).
There is a problematic term used within the book - I have a problem with using the term ‘racialised gymnasts’ to mean ‘black/Asian/Latina gymnasts’ - it’s not once or twice either, it’s an entire chapter. Certain gymnasts are and have been racialised - (Gabby Douglas’ attitude is used as an example within the chapter mentioned) but the term isn’t interchangeable with ‘black’.
Overall however this is a well researched book and certainly proves how Larisa Latynina, Nelly Kim, Olga Korbut, Betty Okino, Dominique Dawes, et al paved the way for Simone Biles to become the greatest gymnast of all time.
As someone who has read all available non fiction gymnastics books, I’d rank this one amongst the best.
Nothing is off limits; from a look at how hairstyles and outfits worn by the gymnasts have changed over the years, how external politics have influenced the sport as well as the politics within the IOC and FIG, and the corruption and abuse from coaches and officials (the cases of former gymnasts Elena Mukhina and Julissa Gomez are referenced here).
There is a problematic term used within the book - I have a problem with using the term ‘racialised gymnasts’ to mean ‘black/Asian/Latina gymnasts’ - it’s not once or twice either, it’s an entire chapter. Certain gymnasts are and have been racialised - (Gabby Douglas’ attitude is used as an example within the chapter mentioned) but the term isn’t interchangeable with ‘black’.
Overall however this is a well researched book and certainly proves how Larisa Latynina, Nelly Kim, Olga Korbut, Betty Okino, Dominique Dawes, et al paved the way for Simone Biles to become the greatest gymnast of all time.
As someone who has read all available non fiction gymnastics books, I’d rank this one amongst the best.
April 16, 2021
Read if you: Are fascinated by women's gymnastics and want an in-depth look at the history, legacy, and current issues surrounding the sport.
This is from an academic publisher, so expect it to be somewhat technical and quite detailed at times. However, diehard gymnastics fans and those interested in sports history will definitely benefit.
Not only is the author a historian, but she also competed on the international level, so she brings an inside perspective to the sport and its history/current issues.
Librarians/booksellers: With the Summer Olympics quickly approaching, interest in Olympic gymnasts will be quite high. There's a definite lack of gymnastics books for adults (save for recent books written about the sexual abuse crisis), so this is an excellent addition to your sports books collection.
Many thanks to University of Illinois Press (now, please do a figure skating book like this!) and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is from an academic publisher, so expect it to be somewhat technical and quite detailed at times. However, diehard gymnastics fans and those interested in sports history will definitely benefit.
Not only is the author a historian, but she also competed on the international level, so she brings an inside perspective to the sport and its history/current issues.
Librarians/booksellers: With the Summer Olympics quickly approaching, interest in Olympic gymnasts will be quite high. There's a definite lack of gymnastics books for adults (save for recent books written about the sexual abuse crisis), so this is an excellent addition to your sports books collection.
Many thanks to University of Illinois Press (now, please do a figure skating book like this!) and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2021
I've always been fascinated with gymnastics, so I enjoyed this inside book. The author discusses the lengths some countries would go to in order to see their gymnasts win, even if it meant removing young girls from their families. Soviet and Romanian gymnasts of the 1970s are discussed, including how they were used as political pawns. Abuse in the sport is also addressed. Those interested in women's gymnastics will likely be interested in this book. The author brings to light some of the dark sides to the sport, including how little the gymnast's health meant in relation to winning a medal.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a positive review.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a positive review.
September 18, 2025
a great and very interesting read. I didn't know much about the history of women's gymnastics so I am glad I found this book on Libby. I loved all the pictures. The author has done an excellent job of bringing together all the necessary information. You can tell that it has been well researched. I definitely recommend reading this book. I especially found the section about different countries lying about the age of their gymnasts extremely interesting.
June 18, 2021
This book needed a lot of editing. It was so repetitive. The prologue siad what the book was going to accomplish, then the intro to each chapter said what it was going to accomplish and then the conclusion summarized the chapter. Then the conclusion of the book summarized all the chapter conclusions. It made the book hard to follow and not cohesive. The topic was interesting but not told well.
September 2, 2021
The writing is a little dry and academic, but the information is interesting, probably the most comprehensive history of women's gymnastics that I've read. The core of the book is how the push toward elevating younger athletes for a variety of reasons opened the door for a culture of abuse that harmed the athletes and that the sport is still dealing with, albeit to a lesser extent.
August 2, 2021
The topic was interesting - the evolution of women's gymnastics, how it was used during the Cold War as a tool of diplomacy and also propaganda, and how it got to where it is now (young teen Olympians, abuse scandals, etc.) - but the execution was lacking. Each chapter started with a summary and ended with a recap, which made the book read more like a school thesis paper and really broke up the flow.
September 5, 2021
Best book I've read in years. Cervin breaks down the history of women's gymnastics, but critiques the narratives of the time to reveal the politics, international through to gender, behind how the story has developed and continues to develop.
August 27, 2021
Pretty interesting cultural/political history of gymnastics. Academic but accessible. It laid out some generational trends in a way which hadn’t been apparent to me before.
September 10, 2022
A very interesting read. Written in a very academic style rather than for the general reader.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews