|
Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Sporting events, tours & organisations > Olympic games
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.
The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were both unusual and
controversial. One of the major problems for Olympic scholars has
been to determine which of the events at these Games were truly of
Olympic caliber. The Games were included as part of the World's
Fair, and every athletic contest that took place under the Fair's
auspices was deemed "Olympic." These activities included croquet
and water polo, high school and college championships in football
and basketball, as well as the "Anthropology Days" events in which
members of "primitive" "tribes" competed against one another.
The author demonstrates, after great deliberation, that 16
events of the 21 overall were truly Olympic sports and gives
descriptions, scores, and analyses for each (as well as for the
five non-Olympic events). Appendices include literature relating to
these games, lists of noncompeting foreign entrants, and a guide to
all competitors.
Olympic rowers Gary and Paul O'Donovan may be the face of Irish
rowing and Skibbereen Rowing Club, and have enormously increased
the popularity of rowing in Ireland, but they're just one piece of
a much larger jigsaw. Without their club and the people behind the
scenes, they wouldn't be Olympic silver medalists, 2018 world
champions, former European champions and, in Paul's case, a
three-time world champion. Almost one hundred Skibbereen Rowing
Club athletes have represented Ireland at various regattas over the
years; a staggering figure when viewed in light of the size of the
club. Founded in 1970, it is now the undisputed most successful
rowing club in the country, producing five Olympic rowers since
2000 and four world champions between 2016 and 2018. It is the
characters involved in the club, the coaches, members and the
athletes themselves, who come together to make Skibbereen Rowing
Club what it is. Something in the Water reveals what goes on behind
the scenes to create an environment that allows locals to excel on
the national and international stages. The story is told through
the people and families involved, showing how relatable they are to
people around the country.
Jack Beresford was the first British Olympian to win medals of any
colour in five consecutive Olympic Games. His record of 3 Gold and
2 silver medals at the 5 Olympic Games held between 1920 and 1936
remained until Sir Steve Redgrave won gold at the 2000 Sydney
Games. Historically, men have had two great chances to prove their
mettle; in battle and in sport. While many are aware that Jack
Beresford was one of Britain's greatest oarsmen, this affectionate
but unsentimental tribute by his son, John, reveals what few know,
that Beresford served his country with distinction in war as well
as in peace, and both with a modesty that is usually indicative of
true merit. It is commonly said, show me the boy and I'll show you
the man, and this work reveals that Jack the schoolboy, the soldier
and the sportsman was driven by the same strict principals of duty
and hard work throughout his life. This is, says John, the story
that his Father never wrote. It is also a story with a delicious
(if vicious) irony; the German bullet that wounded 19-year-old 2nd
Lieutenant Beresford in 1918 led to him abandoning rugby and taking
up rowing. Eighteen years later, the German favourites to win the
Olympic Double Sculls paid the price of Jack's change of sport as,
in the final's last 100 metres, Dick Southwood and Jack Beresford
rowed them to a standstill to win Olympic Gold.
Jack Beresford was the first British Olympian to win medals of any
colour in five consecutive Olympic Games. His record of 3 Gold and
2 silver medals at the 5 Olympic Games held between 1920 and 1936
remained until Sir Steve Redgrave won gold at the 2000 Sydney
Games. Historically, men have had two great chances to prove their
mettle; in battle and in sport. While many are aware that Jack
Beresford was one of Britain's greatest oarsmen, this affectionate
but unsentimental tribute by his son, John, reveals what few know,
that Beresford served his country with distinction in war as well
as in peace, and both with a modesty that is usually indicative of
true merit. It is commonly said, show me the boy and I'll show you
the man, and this work reveals that Jack the schoolboy, the soldier
and the sportsman was driven by the same strict principals of duty
and hard work throughout his life. This is, says John, the story
that his Father never wrote. It is also a story with a delicious
(if vicious) irony; the German bullet that wounded 19-year-old 2nd
Lieutenant Beresford in 1918 led to him abandoning rugby and taking
up rowing. Eighteen years later, the German favourites to win the
Olympic Double Sculls paid the price of Jack's change of sport as,
in the final's last 100 metres, Dick Southwood and Jack Beresford
rowed them to a standstill to win Olympic Gold.
For sports fans everywhere. The untold story of a team cobbled
together at the last minute that was so severely trounced in an
exhibition match that many Canadians were against sending them to
the Olympics for fear of embarrassment. With little financial
support, the team stayed in fleabag hotels and were widely
ridiculed -- until they hit Olympic ice and made hockey history. A
never-before-told story.Rare interviews with some of the original
players and key people behind the scenes are skilfully woven into a
breathtaking story of scorn, triumph and redemption. This is sports
writing at its finest. Macadam breathes life into his characters
and keeps our heart rates soaring as he skillfully helps us relive
hockey history and masterfully builds tension to the breaking
point.
The Beijing Olympics will be remembered as the largest, most
expensive, and most widely watched event of the modern Olympic era.
But did China present itself as a responsible host and an emergent
international power, much like Japan during the 1964 Tokyo Games
and Korea during the 1988 Seoul Games? Or was Beijing in 2008 more
like Berlin in 1936, when Germany took advantage of the global
spotlight to promote its political ideology at home and abroad?
"Beyond the Final Score" is one of the first books to look at
the 2008 Beijing games within the context of the politics of sport
in Asia. Asian athletics are bound up with notions of national
identity and nationalism, refracting political intent and the
process of globalization. Sporting events can generate diplomatic
breakthroughs (as with the results of Nixon and Mao's "ping-pong
diplomacy") or breakdowns (as when an athlete defects to another
country). For China, the Beijing Games introduced a liberalizing
ethos that its authoritative regime could ignore only at its peril.
Victor D. Cha& mdash;former director of Asian affairs for the
White House& mdash;evaluates Beijing's contention with this
pressure considering the intense scrutiny China already faced on
issues of counterproliferation, global warming, and free trade. He
begins with the theoretical arguments tying Asian sport to
international affairs and follows with an explanation of athletics
as they relate to identity, diplomacy, and transformation. Enhanced
by Cha's remarkable facility with the history and politics of
sport, "Beyond the Final Score" is the definitive examination of
the significance of events& mdash;both good and bad&
mdash;that took place during the BeijingOlympics.
|
Fame
- Tom Daley
(Paperback)
Michael Troy, Darren G Davis; Contributions by Alex Schumacher
|
R208
Discovery Miles 2 080
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
|
|
You may like...
The Race
Roy Peachey
Paperback
R180
Discovery Miles 1 800
|