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Dedication

To all the athletes who spoke up about the abuse in gymnastics, I’m in awe of your strength, bravery, and perseverance. Thank you for making this sport safer.

Author’s Note

• AUTHOR’S NOTE •

Head Over Heels was inspired by my love for gymnastics. I spent fifteen years training as a gymnast and always knew I wanted to write about the sport someday. In August 2018, the idea for this novel hit me and I quickly emailed my agent. “What perfect timing for summer 2020!” she wrote back. I was thrilled my editor agreed: the book would come out just in time for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. It never crossed anyone’s mind that the event wouldn’t happen.

Two days after I finished the final page proof review of this novel, the International Olympic Committee announced the 2020 Olympics would be postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since the modern Olympic Games were founded in 1896, the competitions have only been canceled for World War One (in 1916) and World War Two (in 1940 and 1944). While a postponement was undoubtedly the safest choice, it’s also a devastating one for some gymnasts. Athletes have a very narrow window of opportunity to compete at their prime, and delaying the Games by even a year could mark the end of some gymnasts’ Olympic aspirations.

This is hardly the first blow elite gymnastics has suffered in recent years. In September 2016, the Indianapolis Star reported that two former gymnasts had accused Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics (USAG) national team doctor and an osteopathic physician at Michigan State University, of sexual assault. Since then, more than 265 women have come forward with accusations dating back to 1992. In July 2017, Nassar was sentenced to sixty years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges; in 2018, he received two additional sentences of 175 and 40 to 125 years in state prison for sexual assault charges. As of February 2020, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee have proposed a $215 million settlement to current and former athletes who survived Nassar’s abuse, but some top gymnasts have noted the settlement would prevent further investigation into USAG’s role in the scandal.