1985 World Gymnastics Champs Jennifer Sey bad fall on bars

[xgymnasticsxcrazyx]

the comentaitor was rather bitchy at the beginning

[lalalauren409]

my computer bleeps out the part when she falls. like it just shuts down at the same part every time! ugh!

[Hollygirlwwe]

What ever happened to her? She looked pretty good until the fall OUCH!! I really think that the bars are scary.

[Beccka]

@Hollygirlwwe She's written a book, "Chalked Up." Sey says that she was feeling the intense pressure from her abusive coaches, and mis-timed her release. She broke her femur. She did come back from this, and competed actually the next *year*.

[HilaryGymnastx]

i love jennifer! I was sad when she fell :( x I am reading her book its SO GOOD!

[emilee571]

im at this part in the book

[horsechic251]

my worst nightmare pretty much summed up in 40 seconds

[oceansprinter]

does she break it when she hit the bar or when she hit the floor

[gymnastluvhorses55]

@oceansprinter when she hit the floor if you see at :37 her right leg is stretched out and it was hit at a bad angle

[gymnastluvhorses55]

wow it is incredible that she broke she a large bone all by herself. it usually takes something like the force of a car crash to break it. poor jennifer it is so amazing that she won nationals the next year. check out her book "Chalked Up"

[zozoLOVESnorbit]

chalked up is the BEST book ive ever read!

[JTGPCFL]

@zozoLOVESnorbit I have yet to read it, but it's been on my to-do list forever! I'm glad you liked it!

[iloveyourstory]

That was awful :(

[gymnasticsfan14]

I read her book and loved it!

[kenpalmer1965]

Quite tragic indeed! As mentioned, it takes a lot of guts for a gymnast to continue on with their routine after watching their teammate carried off on a stretcher like that. What a shame for Jennifer!

[gymlovr828]

Still to me jennifer sey was the best gymnast ever!!!!! (but a lot were really good too) I say she's the best because she had so many falls and accidents during her "trip to fame" that she, to me, is the strongest and best ever! If you want to learn about her than you should read her book called Chalked Up. It's really good!! It's an auto biography about how she got to the top in gymnastics! She's truly amazing though!!! I LOVE YOU JEN!!!

[gymlovr828]

I also recall that she hated using grips because, I think it separated her from the bar. So the bars must have especially been painful as it is.

[GSZZ9PluralZAlpha]

I actually watched this video for the first time several months ago and it prompted me to read Sey's book. It is really interesting now coming back to watch this again after having read about all of the events that led her to this one moment, and all of the fallout and struggle for a comeback after this moment. I definitely recommend her book.

[LMA629]

ouch!!! that mustve been painful!!! poor girl. but way to rebound by winning the nationals

[isa1285]

ooooooooouch!!!!!!!

[iloveyourstory]

Wow.

[xxDonaghxx]

They need better padding at the bottom, you can go pretty fast swinging on the bars, combined with gravity. She probably broke he femur from hitting the bar alone, but the fall didn't help at all.

[oubeauty2008]

There's no way the bar broke her femur...she catches her lower leg on the bar. Her femur broke when her right knee slammed into the ground.

[gymnastlevel9]

@oubeauty2008 yea i think ur right

[QueenieQue]

No, she broke her right femur, not her left. It was broken by the fall, and her leg that hit the bar was not the one broken.

[gymlovr828]

Ya that was the time when she broke her Femur. That bone is almost impossible to break so that must have hurt when she broke it!!!

[SonyaNatalia]

Oh, and I REALLY wouldn't want to be the next girl up!!

[SonyaNatalia]

It is horrible to watch, knowing what is about to happen.

[Athlete065]

I'm reading her book.

Ouch! I feel so bad.

[Nightflare514]

What do you think of it?

[Athlete065]

It's really great!!!

[eMthegymnast]

whats the bok? little girls in pretty boxes?

[mka800]

No, it's called "Chalked Up." I just got it myself. I don't think she wrote "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes."

[GymnastAtHeart107]

Im reading her book too! Its terrible! Poor girl!

[tgcgymrat]

ik, the book is really good. i just started reading it last week.

[gymlovr828]

It is really good!! Iread it last year and i'm thinking of reading it again... For every one else it's called "Chalked Up" by Jennifer Sey

[iLoveMyiPod2008]

oh my gosh. i read her book, it's really good.

everyone, read it now!

[whoaabubbs39]

i'm reading her book chalked up, and i havent gotten here yet. i think i'm at the point to wear she's 13 competing elite.

[tatulover2120]

holy crap that looked painful

[CampbellScot]

oh my good Lord, that was HORRIBLE to see. The fact that her leg was then manipulated and yanked on moments later by people who thought she had just popped it out of joint, makes me sick to watch it. Actually seeing her reaching towards her leg and reaching to grip the bar for SOMETHING to hang on to is heartbreaking. I can't even imagine how hideously painful that was. It's amazing that she came back a mere seven months later to win Nationals. Go Jen! Hardcore!!

[twinklestaronthex]

cor that looks painful.

[svetaswan]

(contd.) Interesting that both Sey's & Theisman's breaks happened the same year though- maybe within days of each other!! (Someone look up the exact date of each.) Maybe these guys should have been introduced to each other.

[svetaswan]

For you trivia buffs:

Jennifer Sey's leg-break: November 6, 1985

Joe Theismann's leg-break: November 18, 1985

[svetaswan]

re: Mhabalzizhari - LOL. Sey's fall was pretty gruesome, but Thiesman's leg-break was MUCH more visible to the naked eye. Even Stevie Wonder could see that Thiesman's lower leg was bent at a 90-degree angle to the rest of his leg. And Theisman's break happened on live primetime t.v. w/ millions watching - while Sey's fall was broadcast several weeks later on a Saturday afternoon (assuming it was shown on the usual tape delay that gymm meets were shown on back then).

[woofiegrrl]

Jennifer Sey is the crankiest ex-gymnast I know of.

[zoethezebra]

oh wow i read her book and the way she explained the fall i couldnt quite make out but this really helped. THANKS FOR POSTING IT!!

[svetaswan]

Interesting how when she describes her fall in her book - she *really* breaks it down moment by moment...making the whole sequence seem like it lasted 5 minutes. But watching this vid, it all (swinging into Tkatchev, Tkatchev, fall, impact & her "flipping" upon impact) happened in about 4 seconds. Her description would lead one to believe that she had a lot of time to think as she was falling - but no, all of these thoughts were flashing in her mind in about 2 or 3 seconds.

[jeyzi]

It probably felt that long even though it was really quite short.

[NYCBlonde]

I think that's very common for traumatic events--most people, remembering back, *do* remember such events moment by moment precisely *because* they were traumatic. Of course we, the impartial observer, won't experience it the same way. I certainly don't think Sey was trying to mislead anyone.

[vintage1950]

o the pain, glad they've changed all the equipment.i

[TuesdayPillow]

Has nothing to do with the eq, matting and coaches spotting perhaps.

[justdanny13]

i remember seeing that live on tv when it happened and it still looks as nasty now, always thought that she looked afraid before her mount as if she knew she was going to fall, i also noticed on of the coached hit his head on the low bar when they pick her up on the stretcher, ouch twice!!

[flippingymnast1o]

i like how the announcer called it a yegar

no that was a horrible fall i wish i would have never seen it

[bobrach123]

Ouuccch! What a terrible fall. I read her book too. Wasn't great, but wasn't bad either.

[admetric]

Would you consider posting the rest of this footage? I've never seen this set from BBC.

[GYMANGELS]

i already have posted this meet :)

[GYMANGELS]

actually its the euros i posted. i will try to post this entire meet soon :)

[GYMANGELS]

no problem, i was asked by a few people to upload it as Jennifer Sey's book is out now so there is some renewed interest in her gymnastics, i don't want people to think it is weird to post this!

[audie83]

It's annoying to hear the commentator say 'supposed to be Mary Lou Retton's successor.' Blech.

[metsdudenj]

That was said because she was the 85 US National Champion, and I would say, she was the best gymnast in both 1986 and 1987, had she been healthy, she would have placed probably second in the US nationals in 1988 and would have gone to the OLympics as our number two all arounder; she proved this in a USA USSR dual meet right before the OLYmpics, plus she dominated the 87 Pan Ams. We would have won that 1988 team Olympic bronze outright had she been in Seoul. She was an amazing competitor!

[ChildofPluto]

Who are you? Sorry, you sound awkward praising her so much, she's good, but we've all seen much better...

[metsdudenj]

Pluto, that above comment was about Sabrina Mar. The announcer called her the succesor to Mary Lou Retton. I was praising Sabrina Mar. Believe me, most of my posts on Jennifer Sey werent as praising as this one. I think Jennifer had potential, but I also felt she needed a coaching change and some outside advice on her routines, and a good physical therapist or surgeon for her ankle.

[ChildofPluto]

OK, sorry. I didn't pay attention and thought they were still taking about Jennifer Sey, it's my (poor) English.

[audie83]

I have an old IG back issue from the 1985 Worlds with a picture of Jennifer after her terrible fall-even the picture was hard to look at. This was very hard to watch but thank you for posting it.

[andyl55]

Just watching that makes my leg hurt. Dreadful fall.

[Anteros05]

Poor thing. When I watched it at first I couldn't understand why it was her R. leg. Then I realized her R. leg landed sideways and bent with her weight coming down. Gosh. Its very odd technique on the skill...I wonder if this is why almost no Parkettes do Tkatchevs.

[postlemonkey]

OUCH! that was awful