For the 6-year-old Jordan Chiles from Vancouver, Washington, gymnastics always hit differently. By 2013, she made her debut in the American Classic and in the next five years, this young talented Oregon-born would claim 8 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals along with three Junior National Team selections to wrap up her Junior gymnastics career. But the surging popularity also had “dark” truths and secrets that never got out of the locker room, while behind the scenes, they pushed Chiles to quit the sport and even think of ending her life as the realizations of life became visible. 

“I was about 15, 16 years old when I was like, ‘wait, something’s not right’ because I wasn’t getting judged the same,” Jordan recalled on NBC’s “My New Favorite Olympian” in 2024.

A household name today, it was never just easy for a young Jordan Chiles. Time and again, she has mentioned being judged as “a double head” or that her “hair was too big” or being “fat” as she tried to persevere through the tough times while also trying to end her unhealthy relationship with eating. All this strength came from one lifelong goal of inspiring the next generation of gymnasts. Today, the UCLA junior would step back from her own words to be the role model for young gymnasts: “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t share anything about my life. But then I wouldn’t be able to give the younger generation something to look at.” And so, she spoke. Not just! She wrote! 

Preluding her memoir ‘I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams’ that will be out on March 4, Jordan opened up about her struggles with an exclusive interaction with People’s Alex Ross. And through the re-living and revelation, she has the support of her fans.

In the interview, she disclosed details about the experience she had to go through with her former coach, whom she calls Coach X in her memoir. Per People, “For years, however, Chiles says she was forced to contend with Coach X’s attacks on her race, her body (Coach X often called Chiles “fat,” among other things), her eating habits, her whereabouts, her performance.” Ironically enough, turns out Coach X were themselves struggling through alcoholism, which only worsened the whole situation. But she finally spoke up and stood up for what she went through so other young athletes of color don’t face the same challenges.

“I wanted to get it off my chest. I wanted to let people know that I had really, really down times. I’ve been in the dark, I’ve been in the deepest part of the ocean. [Writing about] it was hard at first. But I’m happy that I was able to revisit those things and I’m happy now that people get to read it and understand, and hopefully that gives them the confidence to be like, ‘You know what? Maybe I need to talk about something [too],” Chiles explained.

She was never formally diagnosed with an eating disorder but had developed unhealthy eating patterns to meet her coach’s unrealistic expectations who sometimes apparently asked her to live on soup. Opening up more on this topic, she had previously shared on NBC’s “My New Favorite Olympian” podcast, “I wanted to be done, because I didn’t think … the sport wanted me. I didn’t think people around me wanted to see this beautiful Black girl in a [leotard] anymore.”

But every storm has to come to an end, but the wounds certainly take some time to heal. Talking to People, she further explained how she is still in the process of creating a healthy relationship with eating. “It took me a while to really find the love of food. Now, I’ve started putting myself in that mindset of understanding that it’s okay to give yourself a cheat meal. This was a trauma, and I’m happy that I’m moving past it. I know that it’s healthy to eat and it’s healthy for my body.”

Another major step that helped a young Chiles who was just entering her senior gymnastics career was switching to Cecile and Laurent Landi and the World Championship Center (WCC) became a turning point in her career. Interestingly, it was “the number one in my heart” Simone Biles who extended the offer to Chiles to move to Texas. And the young gymnast from Washington is grateful for the step and the new coaches.

“They are the most amazing coaches. It’s hard to explain how they changed me. I don’t think I knew about [this kind of] support that you can get in a sport. They’re like second parents to me.

“They understand me, not just as an athlete, but as a human. They understood that I can have down days; we can have rough practices. And it was just really cool to know that they [also] had the confidence in me to be able to push me to my limit,” said Jordan about the coaches under whom she not only garnered the spotlight, the fame, and the successes but also began her healing journey.

Chiles recalled one advice Cecile gave her when she was struggling one day, “She had told me, ‘If this is what you want to do, Jordan, you have the potential, you have the confidence, You’re talented. If this is what you want to do, then do it.'” Even the best can have a rough day and even they can struggle at times and seems like Cecile and Laurent understand that perfectly instead of stressing Jordan to do better, only adding to the pressure.

Her story has deeply moved the gymnastics world as they all rally for Chiles, giving more love, offering words of encouragement and support to the UCLA junior.

Fans come forward to share their support for Jordan Chiles 

Jordan Chiles’ story may not be a common occurrence, but undoubtedly it is a reality for some. Many have seen her grow from a timid girl who loved gymnastics to reaching her potential in the last decade, and they understand just what it must have taken for Jordan to get over the trauma. Hence, after learning about the dark details of her early days, one person commenting, “Whew! This is tough! I’m so sorry that you went through this!” Yep, imagine a teen only doing what she loves but still getting the brunt because of something that is out of her control!

One fan commented, “Yes she didn’t get to go to worlds that year because of it. I want to say 2015?” As her only second senior championship that year, Chiles did clench the silver medal in the National Championships in the all-around but did not move to the World championship in Montreal. This only made her belief stronger that, “I didn’t think the sport wanted me anymore.” Probably these thoughts were the reason why she skipped the 2015 WC but her former coach’s involvement is still unknown but she didn’t participate in any international event.

One of the concerned netizens wrote, “I really hope she stays with the sport and coaches when she retires (but please don’t retire!!).” Given her ability to inspire and uplift others, many believe she could be an incredible mentor to younger athletes. She has previously stated her love for mentoring young gymnasts and helping them when she partnered with Toyota’s Need A Nudge campaign in 2022. One of her posts during the same has a caption that reads, “I love mentoring young gymnasts and helping them achieve their goals. I always looked up to so many athletes growing up, so I love to give back and now be one those mentors…” as she continues to pay it forward.

Another fan emphasized, “This is incredibly sad. I’m so glad things turned around for her! Just awful she had to relive the racist attacks over the summer (and I assume still).” Remember the Bronze medal saga and how people attacked her just because of the color of her skin? But things did change for her as she persevered through the storm. Under the coaching of Landis, Chiles’s gymnastics career soared. She competed in key events such as the National Championships and the World Championships and made crucial contributions in helping the U.S. team win multiple medals. Thus, Jordan knows what a good coach can do, and that is what probably fans feel too.

Fans continue to celebrate the positive strides Chiles has been making as one fan noted, “It was great seeing her get a cotton candy at the end of the UCLA at Michigan meet. I love Jordan as a gymnast and a person.” Chiles has resonated with people beyond just her athletic achievements. On February 23rd, at a meet against Michigan, Chiles fell during her first routine but bounced back harder but still ended up receiving a 9.150. She further went on to participate in all the apparatus and registered an impressive all-around score of 38.925, earning her the mentioned “cotton candy.”

Despite the challenges she faced early in her career, she continues to rise, proving that she is more than her past struggles. She now stands as a role model and a body-positivity and mental health advocate as she tells SI, “I’ve cried a couple times. I’ve had times where I look at them (young gymnasts) in their faces and I’m just like, ‘You are the most beautiful human being that God has created.’ I definitely enjoy the fact that the younger generation has someone to look up to that’s like me.”