It remains one of the most memorable moments in modern Olympic history. At the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, a raucous crowd of ninety thousand saw their favorite in the women’s 3,000-meter race, Mary Decker, go down. An audience of two billion around the world witnessed the mishap and listened to the instantaneous accusations against the suspected culprit, Zola Budd.Just seventeen, the South African Budd had already been the target of a vicious and vocal campaign by the antiap...

In this companion to his acclaimed and inspirational bestseller, Heroes for My Son, national bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer brings together the stories of fifty-five remarkable individuals, from intellectual explorers such as Marie Curie, Sally Ride, and Jane Goodall to cultural champions like Billie Jean King; from implacable public figures such as Rosa Parks and Winston Churchill to artistic icons such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Stevie Wonder; and beyond. Heroes for My Daughter is Meltz...

The all-time champion and host of Jeopardy! gives you the chance to test your trivia mettle in this ingeniously organized book of 8,888 questions.For example–February 21: In 1912, on this day, Teddy Roosevelt coined the political phrase “hat in the ring,” so Ken Jennings fires off a series of “ring” questions. In 1979, who became the first NFL quarterback with four Super Bowl rings*?* What rings are divided by the Cassini Division? Also on this date, in 19...

Some samples: 1) The Boston Celtics basketball team scored a couple of notable firsts in opening doors to talented African Americans. In 1950, Walter Brown drafted Chuck Cooper, an African-American forward who played for Duquesne University. Another owner of an NBA team tried to convince Mr. Brown not to become the first team owner to draft an African-American player, but Mr. Brown replied, "I don't give a damn if he's striped or polka-dot or plaid—Boston takes Charles Cooper of Duquesne."...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Clemente and When Pride Still Mattered, the blockbuster story of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, seventeen days that helped define the modern world.Legendary athletes and stirring events are interwoven into a suspenseful narrative of sports and politics at the Rome games, where Cold War propaganda and spies, drugs and sex, money and television, civil rights and the rise of women superstars a...

Think you know the story of Olympic runner Zola Budd? Think again. Even if you remember how the barefoot prodigy broke world records and was blamed for favorite Mary Deckers career-crippling fall, her story has more heartbreak and nuance than the headlines would have you believe.

The Wild American is the story of Kristofferson's triumphant pursuit of a career that took an even more unlikely turn when he broke into movies and became famous all over again.Kris Kristofferson is one of country music's most illustrious singer-songwriters. Seemingly destined for a distinguished military career, ex-Golden Gloves boxer and Rhodes scholar Kristofferson gave it all up to sweep floors in Nashville, began to pitch his ...

Between 1915 and 1940 the amazing Edmonton Grads dominated women’s basketball in Canada. Coached by J. Percy Page, they played over 400 official games, losing only 20; they travelled more than 125,000 miles in Canada, the United States, and Europe; and they crossed the Atlantic three times to defend their world title at exhibition games held in conjunction with the Summer Olympics in Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Meticulously researched and documented—including capsule biographies of all 3...

No man has affected more runners in more ways than Bill Bowerman. During his 24-year tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also ignited the jogging boom, invented the waffle-sole running shoe that helped establish Nike, and coached the US track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic GamesWith the full cooperation of the Bowerman family and Nike, plus years of taped interviews ...

Restore your faith in humanity in just 50 pages.This very special e-book will lift your spirits with inspiring stories of heroism, overcoming adversity, random acts of kindness, wise thoughts, and some really weird tales of people who benefitted from amazing luck. So put on your rose-colored glasses and curl up with these Uncle John’s gems—both old and new—that prove once and for all, the glass really is half full! Some heartwarming examples:• The origin of...

Sporting greatness is defined by more than just a haul of gold medals or championship titles. They help of course, especially if, like Usain Bolt, an athlete redefines what is possible in terms of world records or, in the case of Mark Spitz or Steve Redgrave, demonstrates a sheer dominance of their sport.But greatness is is everything else besides, the mixture of emotion, endurance, excellence and vulnerability that sport brings - as well as the controversy it sometimes stirs - that creates t...

North American Ultrarunning: A History explores the rich heritage of ultradistance running stretching back thousands of years; the Americas were originally peopled by nomads on foot. The book documents ultradistance feats by Native Americans, the earliest European explorers and settlers, before recording the growing development of the professional sport in North America in the nineteenth century. This fascinating story continues onwards into the twentieth century to the Pyle Trans-America ...