First published 2025
Jordan Chiles opens her memoir with the devastating moment officials stripped away her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics over a technicality. The two-time Olympian traces her journey from a young Black gymnast facing prejudice in an overwhelmingly white sport to standing on the podium as part of gymnastics' first all-Black medal ceremony. Chiles reveals the coach who called her fat and triggered eating problems, the injuries that nearly ended her career, and the grueling training that pushed her to her limits. When Simone Biles withdrew from competition in Tokyo due to the twisties, Chiles stepped forward to help secure Team USA's silver medal. Through family support and unbreakable determination, she transformed from an unlikely prospect into an Olympic champion who fights to change gymnastics culture for the next generation.
Genres: african-american, autobiography, sports, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-adversity, underdog
Setting: Paris, Tokyo
Period: 2024, 2020s
288 pages · Hardcover · Harper Influence
Content warnings: abuse, eating-disorder