This indispensable guide is simply the best book for beginners to the sport of artistic gymnastics. Illustrated with stunning full-colour photographs of gymnasts balancing, tumbling and jumping, The Gymnastics Book features skilled guidance from a medal-winning, record-breaking gymnast who is now a noted instructor. The topics covered in detail include: *Finding a good gymnastics club *Qualities to look for in a coach *Warm-up and cool-down exercises *Entering competitive gymnastics *Managing victories and losses *The importance of family and friends *Nutrition and apparel *Financial aspects *A typical day of training for competition. The book is also filled with anecdotes and advice from Olympic stars, taking beginners behind the scenes and offering a no-holds-barred account of life as a competitive gymnast. New gymnasts featured include: *Shallon Olsen: At just 11 years old she ranked first overall in her age category. She now has the 2016 Olympics games in her sights. *Kyle Shewfelt: To date, Kyle is the only Olympic Gold Medalist (2004, Athens) from Canada. *Emily Boycott: A Special Olympics athlete and 27 years old, her team took home five gold medals from the 2007 Beijing Olympics. AUTHOR: Elfi Schlegel was a member of the Canadian National Team from 1976 to 1985, won two gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and in 1979 won a team gold and individual bronze medal at the Pan Am Games. Elfi won Canada's only World Cup gymnastics medal, a bronze in the vault, in 1980. As a scholarship athlete at the University of Florida, she was a six-time All-American. Claire Ross Dunn is a journalist and writer for television. Colour photographs