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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Track & field sports, athletics > General
“Caster’s story isn’t just a tale of perseverance and poise, it’s a story that makes us all interrogate our humanity and the world we build with our actions every day. An essential read.” - Trevor Noah
Caster Semenya is one of the greatest athletes ever to run the 800- metre. She went undefeated for almost four years, winning two Olympic gold medals and three World Athletics Championships, and set and broke numerous records.
However, Caster’s life and career were devastated by accusations that she was not a woman and should not compete against other women as she was born with naturally elevated levels of testosterone. Required by the International Association of Athletics Federations to take hormone-altering drugs as a condition of competing in certain events, Caster for years suffered side effects that she describes as devastating to her health. Her predicament surfaced a still-raging firestorm over our understanding of gender and, of how gender plays out in sports, as well as our expectations of female athletes.
The Race to be Myself tells the coming-of-age story of an iconic athlete – of Caster’s dramatic journey from a gifted and self-trained novice to the pinnacle of her sport – and takes readers behind the scenes of her inspiring battle to run in the ‘body that God gave me’.
This is the story of two of the world's greatest ever milers, Seb
Coe and Steve Ovett. Before the Moscow Olympics, Coe and Ovett had
barely raced each other. They had, however, established impressive
race credentials and traded world records. So when the Olympics
came round, it was showdown time. There is still no athletics clash
which in living memory has come close to the Olympic duels of Coe
and Ovett in Moscow. The combination of record-breaking runs and
media hype generated huge public interest. And when, just weeks
before the Olympics started, Ovett first broke and then equalled
two of Coe's world records, the stage was set for the most titanic
of Olympic duels. The Coe-Ovett showdown in Moscow was, and still
is, sporting theatre of the highest order.
The 153-kilometre West Highland Way encompasses the variety of
Scotland’s wild places. The route, which begins in Milngavie and
finishes in Fort William, passes from Glasgow, Scotland’s
friendliest city, through lochs and forests, and across wild moors
in the shadows of Munros. Offering panoramic views and clear
waymarking, it is no wonder this is one of Scotland’s most
popular long-distance routes. The West Highland Way appeals to
people who have different levels of experience and travel at all
speeds, and this Vertebrate Publishing Guidemap is unique in that
it caters for four categories of user, providing custom itineraries
for walkers, trekkers, fastpackers and trail runners. This
lightweight, waterproof, durable and easy-to-use folding map
features all the essential information for a successful West
Highland Way, including 1:40,000-scale mapping for the linear route
starting in Milngavie and finishing in Fort William. It also
includes a detailed elevation profile and route planner, safety
advice, terrain information and an accommodation directory, and a
link to a GPX file download.
Could Confucius hit a curveball? Could Yoda block the plate? Can the Dalai Lama dig one out of the dirt? No, there is only one Zen master who could contemplate the circle of life while rounding the bases. Who is this guru lurking in the grand old game? Well, he's the winner of ten World Series rings, a member of both the Hall of Fame and the All-Century Team, and perhaps the most popular and beloved ballplayer of all time. And without effort or artifice he's waxed poetic on the mysteries of time ("It gets late awful early out there"), the meaning of community ("It's so crowded nobody goes there anymore"), and even the omnipresence of hope in the direst circumstances ("It ain't over 'til it's over"). It's Yogi Berra, of course, and in What Time Is It? You Mean Now? Yogi expounds on the funny, warm, borderline inadvertent insights that are his trademark. Twenty-six chapters, one for each letter, examine the words, the meaning, and the uplifting example of a kid from St. Louis who grew up to become the consummate Yankee and the ultimate Yogi.
With his sixtieth birthday looming, Colin Renton decides that
it’s time to escape office life and focus on achieving some of
his unfulfilled goals. He embarks on a year-long adventure
that takes him from the busy streets of Edinburgh to the
traffic-free roads, sodden fields and dusty paths of Europe’s
winemaking regions. He laces up his running shoes and joins
thousands of fellow athletes in races that test him over various
distances, degrees of difficulty and levels of seriousness. His
schedule, which culminates with a marathon debut, takes him to
places he would otherwise not have visited. On his travels, he
seeks out local wines that deserve a place in a carefully chosen
twelve-bottle case, a process that throws up some fascinating
insights and introduces him to a vintage crop of engaging
characters. The crossover between running and wine uncorks a tale
of endurance, curiosity and discovery, told in an accessible style
and served up with a splash of local colour and a drop of wry
humour.
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