For the record-breaking third time London will be hosting the Olympic Games in 2012. From the inception of Baron Pierre de Courbetin' s crusade to revive the Games of the ancient Greeks, in the 1890s, through the triumphs and disasters of twenty-nine Olympiads, The Daily Telegraph has been there to provide eye-witness accounts of the greatest sporting moments in history with characteristic authority. This comprehensive and colourful review of the summer Olympics takes you back to 1908, the first time London held the Games, with Dorando Pietri' s infamous disqualification in the marathon. Then to Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zatopek lifeting the War-scarred capital in the Austerity Games of 1948. With more recent record-breaking moments from the Olympics of Sydney, Athens and Beijing, this is the perfect scene-setter for the Games' return to London. From Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett to Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis, Kelly Holmes, Steve Redgrave, Ian Thorpe and Daley Thompson, the tears and the glory of all the heroes and villains from 116 years of Olympic history are collected here in this wonderful anthology of the greatest show on earth.

Katherine Grainger is not only Great Britain's finest ever woman rower, but also she has won more Olympic medals than any other female British athlete in any sport. At Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 Olympic Games, at the age of 40, and less than two years after coming out of 'retirement', with a different partner, she came within one second of retaining her women's Double Sculls gold medal. On 3 August 2012, on the water at Eton Dorney in the London 2012 Olympic Games, she - and Anna Watkins - had rowed to glory in the women's Double Sculls. Three times an Olympic silver medallist, she could finally hang up her oars as an Olympic champion to add to her six World Championships and eight World Cup gold medals - but she didn't. Katherine's story is a remarkable one - proof that nice people can be winners and dedication and hard work pay off. Incredibly bright, Grainger combined her athletic career with her education and she has degrees from Glasgow and Edinburgh universities and a PhD from London, in subjects as diverse as law, philosophy and homicide. No wonder she is so much in demand as a motivational speaker. Katherine Grainger: The Autobiography continues her inspirational story taking in her post-London activities, the return to training, finding a new double sculls partner in Vicky Thornley, the highs and lows of their attempt to qualify for Rio 2016 and eventually their astonishing row to another silver medal.

Travel with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins on her compelling journey from America's heartland to international sports history, navigating challenges and triumphs with rugged grit and a splash of glitter Pyeongchang, February 21, 2018. In the nerve-racking final seconds of the women's team sprint freestyle race, Jessie Diggins dug deep. Blowing past two of the best sprinters in the world, she stretched her ski boot across the finish line and lunged straight into Olympic immortality: the first ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the United States at the Winter Games. The 26-year-old Diggins, a four-time World Championship medalist, was literally a world away from the small town of Afton, Minnesota, where she first strapped on skis. Yet, for all her history-making achievements, she had never strayed far from the scrappy 12-year-old who had insisted on portaging her own canoe through the wilderness, yelling happily under the unwieldy weight on her shoulders: "Look! I'm doing it!" In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete; learning how to push through and beyond physical and psychological limits; and the intense pressure of competing at the highest levels. She openly shares her harrowing struggle with bulimia, recounting both the adversity and how she healed from it in order to bring hope and understanding to others experiencing eating disorders. Between thrilling accounts of moments of triumph, Diggins shows the determination it takes to get there-the struggles and disappointments, the fun and the hard work, and the importance of listening to that small, fierce voice: I can do it. I am brave enough.

IN 1936, Adolf Hitler welcomed the world to Berlin to attend the Olympic Games. It promised to be not only a magnificent sporting event but also a grand showcase for the rebuilt Germany. No effort was spared to present the Third Reich as the newest global power. But beneath the glittering surface, the Games of the Eleventh Olympiad of the Modern Era came to act as a crucible for the dark political forces that were gathering, foreshadowing the bloody conflict to come.

The 1936 Olympics were nothing less than the most political sporting event of the last century--an epic clash between proponents of barbarism and those of civilization, both of whom tried to use the Games to promote their own values. Berlin Games is the complete history of those fateful two weeks in August. It is a story of the athletes and their accomplishments, an eye-opening account of the Nazi machine's brazen attempt to use the Games as a model of Aryan superiority and fascist efficiency, and a devastating indictment of the manipulative power games of politicians, diplomats, and Olympic officials that would ultimately have profound consequences for the entire world.

It takes just under 10 seconds to run, but to the winner of Athletics' men's 100 metres goes the accolade of 'The Fastest Man on Earth'. "The Fastest Men on Earth", first published in 1988 as a tie-in to the "Thames Television" series of the same name, is reissued in a new, exciting format, fully revised and updated to include the incredible men's 100 metres final at the Beijing 2008 Games. Each chapter discusses not only the race itself, but also the preliminary rounds, dramas and controversies and includes interviews with all the key players, not just the champion. Immaculately researched and written in an entertaining style "The Fastest Men on Earth" brings to life some of the greatest athletes who ever set foot on a running track.

Discover the astonishing, inspirational, and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South. Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen black men and two black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? To be better than anyone ever expected? Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide readers through this harrowing and inspiring journey. There's a young and sometimes feisty Tidye Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there's Ralph Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise and fierce big brother of the group. Drawing on over five years of research, Draper and Thrasher bring to life a timely story of perseverance and the will to beat unsurmountable odds. From burning crosses set on the Robinsons's lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is full of emotion, grit, political upheaval, and the American dream. Capturing a powerful and untold chapter of history, the narrative is also a celebration of the courage, commitment, and accomplishments of these talented athletes and their impact on race, sports and inclusion around the world.

WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARD FOR GENERAL OUTSTANDING SPORTS WRITING A captivating account of the Nazi Olympics - told through the voices and stories of those who were there. 'Compelling, suspenseful and beautifully done' Anna Funder, author of STASILAND For sixteen days in the summer of 1936, the world's attention turned to the German capital as it hosted the Olympic Games. Seen through the eyes of a cast of characters - Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, athletes and journalists, nightclub owners and jazz musicians - Berlin 1936 plunges us into the high tension of this unfolding scene. Alongside the drama in the Olympic Stadium - from the triumph of Jesse Owens to the scandal when an American tourist breaks through the security and manages to kiss Hitler - Oliver Hilmes takes us behind the scenes and into the lives of ordinary Berliners: the woman with a dark secret who steps in front of a train, the transsexual waiting for the Gestapo's knock on the door, and the Jewish boy hoping that Germany may lose in the sporting arena. During the sporting events the dictatorship was partially put on hold; here then, is a last glimpse of the vibrant and diverse life in Berlin in the 1920s and 30s that the Nazis aimed to destroy. LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2018

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 antiapartheid lobby after she transferred to the British team in order to compete at the games. Decker, at twenty-six, was America's golden girl, ready to overcome years of bad luck and injuries to rightfully take the Olympic gold for which she had waited so long. With three laps to go, Decker and Budd's feet became tangled. Decker went down and didn't get up, wailing in primal agony as her gold medal hopes vanished. Decker's stumbles continued in the race's aftermath when she refused Budd's apology and race officials found her, not Budd, at fault for the collision. Although both women found success after the Olympics, neither could escape the long shadow of the infamous event that forever changed both of their lives and defines them in popular culture to this day. Olympic Collision follows Decker and Budd through their lives and careers, telling the story behind the controversy; the account that emerges is certain to revise the view Americans, in particular, have held since that fateful day in Los Angeles more than thirty years ago. Olympic Collision relives one of the most famous incidents in Olympic history, its legacy, and what has happened to both athletes since.

On the fortieth anniversary of the historic "Miracle on Ice," Mike Eruzione--the captain of the 1980 U.S Men's Olympic Hockey Team, who scored the winning goal--recounts his amazing career on ice, the legendary upset against the Soviets, and winning the gold medal. It is the greatest American underdog sports story ever told: how a team of college kids and unsigned amateurs, under the tutelage of legendary coach--and legendary taskmaster--Herb Brooks, beat the elite Soviet hockey team on their way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. No one believed the scrappy Americans had a real shot at winning. Despite being undefeated, the U.S.--the youngest team in the competition--were facing off against the four-time defending gold medalist Russians. But the Americans' irrepressible optimism, skill, and fearless attitude helped them outplay the seasoned Soviet team and deliver their iconic win. As captain, Mike Eruzione led his team on the ice on that Friday, February 22, 1980. But beating the U.S.S.R was only one of the numerous challenges Mike has faced in his life. In this inspiring memoir, he recounts the obstacles he has overcome, from his blue-collar upbringing in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to his battle to make the Boston University squad; his challenges in the minor leagues and international tournaments to his selection to the U.S. team and their run for gold. He also talks about the aftermath of that stupendous win that inspired and united the nation at a time of crisis in its history. Eruzione has lived a hockey life full of unexpected twists and surprising turns. Al Michaels' famous call in 1980--"do you believe in miracles? YES!"--could have been about Mike himself. Filled with vivid portraits--from his hard-working, irrepressible father to the irascible Herb Brooks to the Russian hall of famers Tretiak, Kharlamov, Makarov, and Fetisov--this lively, fascinating look back is destined to become a sports classic and is a must for hockey fans, especially those who witnessed that miraculous day.

Make the most of your 2020 Olympic adventure! If you dream of traveling to the Olympic games but feel overwhelmed by the thought of a trip to Japan, then Tokyo 2020 Olympics For Dummies is for you. Hundreds of thousands of international travelers will arrive in Tokyo for the next Olympics to share in the worldwide camaraderie and watch world-class athletes in 33 sports. This book is your complete authority on how to join in! Learn about travel options, safety, customs, and facts about the Olympic Games. Tokyo is an amazing destination, and you'll be prepared for the voyage of a lifetime with knowledge of Japanese culture and trip planning tips. Plan your trip to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan Be prepared with tips on Japanese culture, customs, language, and more Learn about how the Olympic Games are structured to make the best of your time Stay stress free and have fun with international travel advice and Olympic facts! As you prepare for your once-in-a-lifetime excursion, keep this guide within easy reach!

This title is suitable for children of ages 4 to 8 years. Keep the Olympic spirit alive! Children can learn all about the Winter Olympic Sports and catch the spirit with these highly motivational and fun-to-read Easy Olympic Sports Readers. These colourful and exciting books represent six of the most popular winter sports: Sledding, Skiing, Figure Skating, Speed Skating, Ice Hockey, Snowboarding. With such enticing subjects, beginning readers will visit their favourite sports often while learning how to read.

Those who avidly followed the on-court acrobatics and off-court celebrity of the "Dream Team" in Barcelona in 1992 would hardly recognize what passed as basketball fifty-six years earlier, when the United States first played the game in the 1936 Olympics. In those early days of men's Olympic basketball, many teams lacked basic skills, games were played in the pouring rain, only seven players could suit up, and the rules allowed only two substitutions and no time-outs. How this slow, low-scoring sport became the breakneck game that enraptures millions worldwide is the story of "American Hoops." In this fascinating history of Olympic basketball on the world stage and behind the scenes, Carson Cunningham presents a kaleidoscopic picture of the evolution into the twenty-first century of one of America's most popular sports. From clashes between celebrated egos and thrilling action on the court to the intense rivalries of the Cold War and technological advances in everything from television to sports equipment off the court, "American Hoops" follows the fortunes of Olympic basketball, in the United States and internationally, as it developed and emerged as one of the most challenging and entertaining sports in the world. Cunningham traces how the modifications made by the International Olympic Committee and the International Basketball Federation have transformed the game of basketball over the years, from the Berlin to the Beijing Olympics. His book offers a remarkable view of the changing world through the prism of Olympic sport.

When Great Britain failed to qualify for the women's hockey competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the sport was at its lowest point. Sliding down the world rankings, in-fighting and discord within the squad, no funding and very little prospect of a bright future. Three players - Crista Cullen, Helen Richardson and Kate Walsh - were junior members of that team, and would have been forgiven for walking away at that point. Fast forward 12 years and the same three players were at the heart of the greatest moment in Great Britain women's hockey, standing on the podium in Rio de Janeiro with Olympic gold medals proudly hanging around their necks. During those intervening years, the team had undergone a transformation. It was no easy journey, but a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, triumphs and disasters - with casualties along the way. The History Makers is more than an account of a famous victory. It is the story of how a team changed its culture and its attitude and transformed a sport barely worth a mention in the press into the provider of an Olympic moment that gripped the nation.

A richly illustrated book on the career, on and off the track, of sprinting superstar Usain Bolt, from schoolboy prodigy to World and triple Olympic Champion and world record holder for 100 and 200 metres. Endorsed by the sports star's management, this exciting new biography features an exclusive farewell message penned by Bolt himself. It also contains archival photos not previously published, extensive quotes from Bolt, coaches and competitors, and 'Did You Know?' sections with little known facts about Bolt. A must-have for every fan.

Should sport be above politics and human rights? As London gets ready for the Olympics, Index on Censorship visits the ethical pit stops, asks whether sporting tournaments can be good for democracy and considers the appeal of championships to sports mad dictators - from Vladimir Putin to Alexander Lukashenko. With Mihir Bose giving the inside track on sport and ethics, Natalie Haynes Corinna Ferguson on new threats to the right to protest in the UK, Stephen Escritt and Martin Polley on brand control, Arnold van Bruggen and Rob Hornstra on Russia's winter challenge, and Leah Borromeo on what the Olympics mean for locals. Plus award-winning Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, Salil Tripathi on censorship at literary festivals and reports on press freedom from Hungary, Dagestan and Mexico. Index on Censorship is an award-winning magazine, devoted to protecting and promoting free expression. International in outlook, outspoken in comment, Index on Censorship reports on free expression violations around the world, publishes banned writing and shines a light on vital free expression issues through original, challenging and intelligent commentary and analysis, publishing some of the world's finest writers. For subscription options visit: www.indexoncensorship.org/subscribe www.indexoncensorship.org: the place to turn for free up-to-the-minute free expression news and comment Winner 2008 Amnesty International Consumer Magazine of the Year

The Olympic Games can dazzle us with the sheer scale and variety of its sporting contests. Yet many of the games are unfamiliar to even the most avid sports fan. Which is where this witty, insightful book comes in. How to Watch the Olympics offers each sport's backstory and culture, and explains the finer points of strategy, skulduggery and skill. Once you've read the book, you'll be on tenterhooks to see whether the Danes triumph at handball, what the Italian fencers are up to and why Greco-Roman wrestling is so crucial to Kasakhstan. You'll know who invented the butterfly stroke, where water polo serves as the closest expression of warfare and how shuttlecocks travel faster than tennis balls. This edition has been freshly updated for the 2016 Games in Rio, including fresh material from London 2012 and chapters on the new Olympic sports of rugby sevens and golf. Seventeen days, 10,500 athletes, 28 sports, 302 gold medals up for grabs: the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will soon be upon us. How to Watch the Olympics is your invaluable personal trainer.

The World of Olympics looks at the Olympics from a worldwide perspective. It covers nations across the globe that come together to compete, as well as past hosts of The Olympic Games, and the motto and symbols that embrace the Olympic spirit. It also includes Fact File fact boxes, a full list of Modern Olympic and Winter Olympic hosts, and medal tallies of best-performing Olympic nations through history.

Power; the power of the gods; the power of Greek cities; the power of the human body: all these were celebrated at the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Olympia symbolized excellence and supremacy in every sense of the word, not only athletic, but also political. Every four years, this international festival carefully timed to coincide with the August full moon drew the strongest and fastest athletic champions, hoping to win glory for their city-state. With them came the ruling elite, equally intent on displaying their city's power and prestige by excelling at the Games. After the athletic contests, Olympia also served as the ideal forum for political parleys and alliances. This absorbing narrative, told from a spectators viewpoint, revolves around the Games of 416 BC a turning point in Greek politics when a cold war between Athens and other major cities was about to erupt into bloody fighting. The reader vividly experiences what it was like to be there, to witness the rituals, official banquets, bloody contests, victory celebrations and subsequent political parleys.

History records that the Olympic Games originated in ancient Greece nearly three thousand years ago, died out around 393 AD, and were triumphantly reborn in 1896, in the Greek capital of Athens. Rather less well known is how, during the intervening centuries, an assortment of British writers, romantics, sportsmen and visionaries helped nurture that revival. Indeed, as sports historian Dr Martin Polley argues in this, the 12th book in the acclaimed Played in Britain series, our nation's fascination with all things Olympian has played a pivotal role in shaping the Games as we know them today, culminating in London becoming in 2012 the first city ever to stage a third modern Olympiad. Consider, for example, that the first published use of the word `Olympian' in the English language dates from around 1590. Its author? William Shakespeare. And that the first games of the post-classical era to adopt the formal title `Olympick' took place in the Cotswolds village of Chipping Campden in 1612. It was an English traveller, Richard Chandler, who rediscovered the lost site of Olympia in 1766, and a Shropshire doctor, William Penny Brookes, who, in 1850, founded the Much Wenlock Olympian Games, an annual community festival that inspired Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Games at an international level. Other Olympic festivals surfaced in London (to celebrate Queen Victoria's accession), in Liverpool, and in the north-east town of Morpeth, while the words `Olympic' and `Olympian' became steadily more ingrained in the popular imagination throughout the Victorian era. Britain's Olympic heritage gained added momentum in the 20th century. At White City in 1908, London built the world's first modern, purpose-built Olympic stadium, while in 1948 London stepped in to save the Games by offering Wembley Stadium. Also in the late 1940s, at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire, the modern Paralympics were born when sporting contests were organised for injured servicemen. Thus the 2012 Games represent the culmination of over four hundred years of British enthusiasm and ingenuity; an attachment that has left in its wake a trail of fascinating stories, characters, sites, buildings and artefacts. Leading the reader on a marathon journey, The British Olympics charts them all, making this a vital and entertaining source for anyone with an interest in the Games, in sport, and in the wider narrative of Britain's social and cultural heritage.

In this revised and all-colour edition of her indispensable guide to the ancient Games, Judith Swaddling traces their mythological and religious origins, and describes the events, the sacred ceremony and the celebrations that were an essential part of the Olympic festival. A large, detailed model based on modern research and excavation reconstructs the site of ancient Olympia, where alongside religious and civic buildings there grew an elaborate sports complex with a stadium for 40,000 spectators, indoor and outdoor training facilities, hot and cold baths, a swimming pool and a race-course. Later chapters cover the diet and medical treatment of athletes, sponsorship, patronage, propaganda and revivals of the Games and a brand new chapter, based on the lateste research discusses the literary sources for the Olympic Games. The expanded final chapter on the modern Games is written in collaboration with Stewart Binns, an expert in this field who has worked closely with the International Olympic Committee over many years, and has been revised to bring the story up to the preparations for the London 2012 Games. Illustrated with gorgeous, full-colour photography and covering thousands of years of Olympic history, this fascinating book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Olympic Games.

With its winning mix of gripping narrative and easy-to-implement performance-raising tips, this book has become a best-selling classic. It's garnered 5-star reviews and wide-ranging endorsements - from Sebastian Coe and Dame Kelly Holmes to Lord Digby Jones. The book tells the inspiring story of how Ben Hunt-Davis - an ordinary guy in an ordinary team - achieved something pretty extraordinary: Olympic Gold. Co-author Harriet Beveridge, Executive Coach, then gives a simple, engaging account of how we can apply these strategies to raise our own game... in sport, in business and in life. Building on the huge success of the original, this second edition includes two completely new chapters - on high performance conversations and performance under pressure - as well as a general update, based on the successes readers and businesses have reaped from the first edition. In the book's signature, down to earth and practical style, the new chapters unlock simple ways for readers to thrive in their own pressured environments, and to communicate in ways which consistently improve results. Whether you are a business leader looking to achieve a compelling vision, an individual with a dream, or a coach supporting others to unlock their potential...this book is jam-packed with tried and tested methods to help you achieve your own 'gold medal'.

Original, contemporary haiku celebrating the sports and athletes of the Olympics - from an acclaimed poet and an international gallery of guests. Award-winning haiku poet Kit Pancoast Nagamura offers a collection of original poems that explore the beauty, physical effort, and essence of all the sports of the summer Olympics. At first glance, haiku and sports may seem like an odd pairing. But actually, there's a strong similarity between the two. The grace, balance, and focus that are required of an athlete are exactly what the haiku poet seeks in order to capture an emotion, a mood, an action in just a few, carefully chosen words. Anticipation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is building -- and what better way to share in the experience of the games than through Japan's beloved poetic form, haiku, which has been rediscovered and embraced in recent years by a new generation. From the elegance of a gymnast's leap and the fluid motion of a runner's body, to the thwump of the soccer ball hitting the net, poetry lovers and sports fans alike will feel the thrill and intensity as the world's best go for the gold. In this volume, the first to cover such a wide range of athletics, each Olympic sport is represented by three haiku written by Nagamura, plus one or two by a guest poet. Each poem is presented in both English and Japanese. Evocative photographs and illustrations complement the text.

'Refreshingly honest [...] a highly enjoyable, fascinating read.' Horse and Hound _______________________________________________ "To ride into that arena, next to a sea of British flags and hear the roar of clapping and cheering, was so exciting. It's a sound I will never, ever forget." Charlotte Dujardin and her charismatic horse Valegro burst onto the international sports scene with their record-breaking performance at the London, 2012 Olympics. The world was captivated by the young woman with the dazzling smile and her dancing horse. But no one quite knew what it took to get there, nor how hard the path to success would be - until now. Dujardin began riding horses at the age of two, but dressage was firmly the domain of the wealthy, not the life of a girl from a middle-class family. Her parents sacrificed all and with a undeterred focus, Charlotte left school at 16 to follow her dream. When she was invited to be a groom for the British Olympian Carl Hester, she began to ride Valegro, a dark bay gelding and an unbreakable bond was formed. This is their incredible story.