Though Cathy Rigby never won an Olympic medal, her plucky strength and vulnerability won the hearts of American sports fans in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when she competed as a gymnast. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, "Little Cathy Rigby" was the media's darling, finishing 16th in the all-around competition, the best ranking ever for an American female. She continued to compete internationally, becoming the first U.S. female to win a silver medal at the 1970 World Gymnastics Championships. In all, she won 12 medals in international competitions, eight of them gold. She was highly favored, by the U.S. press at least, to take the honors at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich until her aspirations were thwarted by the stress of public attention, bringing on eating disorders that jeopardized her health for some years to come. She was 20 when she retired...