As a former competitive male gymnast of 15 years (at both the USA Gymnastics and NCAA D1 level), the charges made in books like Ms. Sey's are not unique to female gymnasts. The psychological pressure as well as sexually inappropriate behavior is prevalent in men's gymnastics as well. These problems also do not end when the athletes go on to compete in college. Irresponsible health decisions are made by NCAA Division 1 training room doctors and coaches for both men and women, all the time. Unnecessary surgeries, homeopathic drugs, and rampant usage of cortisone shots are just the tip of the spear. These decisions are rationalized by the necessity to compete in order for the athlete to retain his or her spot on the team and ultimately, his or her scholarship.

Gymnastics earns zero income for college athletic departments and garners a miniscule amount of media coverage, which keeps these poor medical decisions out of the public eye. Most coaches are also "strongly encouraged" to win in order to retain their jobs; no matter what the health condition of their starting six might be.

It seems to me that the "bad" gyms are the ones where inter alia there's a cult of professionalism for children and adolescents - and that bothers me to no end.

Call me old-fashioned, but I tend towards the view that whether organized or not, even competitive sport for kids should be a case of "mens sana in corpore sano." So there's a balance to be struck between "how" and "how well." In other words, I think there should be some acknowledgment that not everyone has to be trained like a future Olympian except to the extent it prevents injuries. Hell, it blows my mind when I see four year olds undergoing soccer drills that are more appropriate for teenagers. I'd also assert that early specialization for non-Olympians (hello traveling soccer teams) is a strange way to achieve health and enjoying competition.

As for gymnastics, I have 2 daughters and I'm keeping them the hell away from it, just like ballet. The current form of the sport relies on unhealthy manipulation of the body. I feel the same way about football as well - if I had a boy, I'd steer him towards soccer or even rugby, because odd as that may seem, it's less damaging.

No doubt my girls will confound me at some point and want to hone in one particular competitive sport or other specialized activity, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the fact that they play, and that I get to join in.

seldom bully and prey upon male athletes lest they end up knocked flat on their asses.

I suggest that be the remedy for those who bully and prey upon little girls and female athletes.

I've watched as my friends and relatives send their children off to sports camps so their kids can learn teamwork, learn to recover from losses and all the other great things that come from playing sports. Unfortunately, those same parents rarely address the other issues - cheating, cruelty, abuse, power struggles, and dysmorphia- the realm of psychic and physical injury that can come from the emphasis on competition at very young ages.

One mother insists her underweight daughter who does gymnastics is just "slim hipped." A father writes off his football playing son's concussions as "standard injuries" which have no consequences. Another set of parents reduces their son's violent outbursts as boyish behavior unrelated to his soccer coach's enthusiastic support of hurting the other team and winning at any cost.

It's dangerous to universalize the personal. However, I rarely see parents step in and challenge the establishment of schools and sports teams. I wonder whether these parents have themselves become accustomed to humiliation or are avoiding conflict that inevitably arises when trying to change an institutionalized attitude.

The structure of institutions mirrors the structure of the games within them. Steroid use in professional sports didn't come about without the complicit agreement and "wink-wink" encouragement from owners and the professions' stewards. Sports are contrived games. As rule changes in every sport illustrate, rules are arbitrary, often adjusted to bring attention and thereby, money into particular pockets.

As long as we allow and create rules that exalt pliable, underweight adolescent girls, over-muscled, aggressive young men and hyper-rich businessmen, we will continue to sacrifice our children to a false, unattainable ideal. The more we find beauty or fun in games designed to injure, the more we lose track of the games.

USAGymnastics magazine has a list of people banned for life from participating in any manner with anything related to USAGymnastics. Names are even listed in their magazine. You really should report your coach, even if it is years later.

Thankfully, gymnasts are getting bigger, but are still superthin. My daughter participates, but we live in a state where there aren't as many athletes and none at the top levels. Still, it's freaking serious business. I keep encouraging my daughter to try other sports, hoping one will stick. So far, it's her choice.

I've seen some quite overweight girls participate. I'm not talking about relative to other gymnasts. I'm talking about girls who are 30 or so pounds overweight. And they are STRONG and can move.

So the sport is opening up, but it is a dead end. Almost no girls compete after early college age.

Horrid, horrid subtitle.

It is extremly sexist and for a publication that likes to pride itself on it's feminist slant, that headline just reaks of "all men are sicko child molesting perverts" and wants to pigeonhole men as incable of wanting to spend time with young women because certainly healthy men have no interest in young girls other than for purile reasons. If women can do anything, so can men.

It also doesn't fit because only a small part of the article is in regards to some of the sexually inappropiate behavior that goes on, none of which the author herself experienced or witnessed.

I'm sure sexual abuse happens in gymnastics, the same way it can happen in any situation when adults work with children.

Other than that the interview was good and informative. Though I am certain these types of verbal abuse, sexual abuse and stress on weight and physical apperance happens in all sports to both genders. As for children, well it's unfortunate but these things go on because the parents aren't being the watchdogs they should be. They are in fact worse than the coaches, they are the parents who should put their child's health and psychological well being far above medals and trophies and bragging rights, but unfortunately for many child athletes and child stars, parents ignore or are in denial about egregious abuses like body dysmorphia and sexual abuse for a variety of egoistic reasons.