Abused
Surviving Sexual Assault and a Toxic Gymnastics Culture
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Abused
Narrated by:
Stacey Glemboski
Buy Now for £12.41
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Narrated by:
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Stacey Glemboski
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By:
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Rachel Haines
Two-year-old Rachel Haines didn’t know that she would be committing to twenty-one years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance as she jumped into the foam pit during her first “mommy and me” gymnastics class. She had no idea that one day she would become a two-time National Team Member, two-time National Champion, and a Division I college gymnast at the University of Minnesota. Nor could she have known that she had just signed herself up for serious injury, emotional distress, and continuous sexual assault by world-renowned trainer turned serial molester, Larry Nassar.
In Abused: Surviving Sexual Assault and a Toxic Gymnastics Culture, Rachel details her experiences as a competitive gymnast and the painful realities of being one of Nassar’s many victims. With honesty and candidness, Rachel shares how the sport she loved that gave her so much—friendships, accomplishments, a college education—is also tangled in a dangerously toxic culture that needs to be fixed. In a world that was setting her up for a lifetime of recovery, she tells how faith, family, and an army of survivors made healing possible.©2019 Rachel Haines (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic reviews
After surviving the most notorious sexual predator in sports history, former gymnast Haines tells her life story and takes us behind the scenes of a sport in which most athletes retire at a young age. Her childhood love of gymnastics led to a college scholarship and success on the national level. As a young teenager, though, Haines came under the treatment of Larry Nassar. How Nassar gained her trust, sabotaged her self-confidence, and exploited her identity as a gymnast is shared, as is Haines's inspirational recovery and courageous final courtroom statement to her abuser. Written with great personal dignity, this memoir stands as a new-generation counterpart to Joan Ryan's landmark exposé Little Girls in Pretty Boxes; a cautionary, ultimately hopeful story of deep betrayal and enduring personal strength. VERDICT Now retired after a successful gymnastics career, Haines reveals not only her experiences as an elite young athlete but also the devastating effects of the serial abuse that she suffered in plain sight.
What was it like to be “treated” by Larry Nassar, the now-infamous molester? Confusing. Like her supportive parents and coach, Haines, who trained at an elite Michigan gym and later competed for the University of Minnesota, trusted the USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician. Wrongly so. . . . In this remarkably mature memoir, the 23-year-old also addresses the problems that accrue when a single individual holds so much power, and she shares her appreciation for all that she learned from gymnastics: balance, coordination, a strong work ethic, perseverance, and courage.
I just read the whole book in one sitting and it moved me to tears. As a fellow gymnast who has gone through the entire USA Gymnastics Program (level 3 through the Olympics and NCAA), there were numerous instances when Rachel describes life as a student-athlete that I could 100% relate to. Her attention to detail can almost make you, the reader, feel her pain, both physically and emotionally. This memoir is an emotional deep-dive into what can happen "behind-the-scenes" of gymnastics, and while every gymnast's career is completely unique to them, the overall culture of USA Gymnastics that we've seen up to this point HAS TO CHANGE in order for this to NEVER happen again. I stand with all of the survivors and hope they are all finding their paths toward healing. You are so incredibly strong. (Corrie Lothrop, 2008 U.S. Olympic team member and University of Utah gymnastics alumna)
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