From Diego Maradona to Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff to Zinedine Zidane, Soccer Legends Alphabet takes to the field with an unbeatable A to Z lineup of unforgettable legends. Educational, inspiring and boldly illustrated, this book is sure to kick a goal with any fan of 'The Beautiful Game.'

Fred Trueman was so much more than a cricketing legend. ' The greatest living Yorkshireman' according to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, he couldn' t help excelling at everything he did, whether it was as a hostile fast bowler for Yorkshire and England, and the first man to take 300 Test wickets in a career, or as a fearlessly outspoken radio summariser for Test Match Special. He was famous for regularly spluttering that, ' I don' t know what' s going off out there,' as well as for the amount of swearing he managed to incorporate into everyday speech. Beloved of cricket crowds, who filled grounds to witness his belligerent way of playing the game, and nothing but trouble to the cricket authorities, ' Fiery Fred' was the epitome of a full-blooded Englishman. But as Chris Waters reveals in this first full biography, behind the charismatic, exuberant mask lay a far less self-assured man - terrified even that his new dog wouldn' t like him - and whose bucolic version of his upbringing bore no relation to the gritty and impoverished South Yorkshire mining community where he actually grew up. Drawing on dozens of new interviews with his Yorkshire colleagues, family and friends, this life of Fred Trueman will surprise and even shock, but also confirm the status of an English folk hero.

Not many 'amateur' yacht designers would dare to enter the first boat they had ever designed into the epic offshore Fastnet Race, let alone with the intention of winning it. But that is what Dick Carter did in 1964, beating all 151 other yachts, some sailed by the most notable sailors of the day. He repeated the feat 4 years later with another of his own designs (which also won the Admiral's Cup that year as top boat and top team), but by then he could certainly not be described as an 'amateur' yacht designer. His radical innovations created fast and comfortable boats which were much in demand in this, the golden age of offshore racing. They were commissioned by the top sailors and succeeded in winning the Admiral's Cup, Southern Cross Series, One Ton Cup, Two Ton Cup and many of the biggest races. He even went on to design the massive 128-foot Vendredi Treize for Jean-Yves Terlain to sail single-handed in the 1972 OSTAR (trans-Atlantic) race - the longest boat ever to have been raced single-handed. But after just a decade at the top of his game, he quit the world of sailing and moved on to other challenges. He hadn't been heard of for so long that sailors assumed he was dead. His surprise appearance at the funeral of Ted Hood gave rise to the suggestion that he wrote this book. It is beautifully produced with many fabulous photographs and boat plans and was first published in the US by Seapoint Books and is now published in the UK by Fernhurst Books. While his career as a yacht designer may have been brief, the impact of his innovations has lasted the test of time. Who today would think of an offshore yacht without internal halyards in the mast or that the rudder always had to be fixed to the keel? These concepts, and many more, were first introduced by Dick Carter.

He was a small-town boy who burst onto the international golf scene with a dramatic hook shot from deep in the woods to win the Masters- before the game he loved almost killed him. Opening up about the toll that chasing and achieving his dream of being a champion golfer took on his mental health, Bubba Watson shares his powerful story of the breaking point that gave him clarity. Bubba Watson is known as the big-hitting left-handed golfer who plays with the pink driver-the small-town kid who grew up as a child golf prodigy before going on to win two Masters Tournaments, competing in the Olympics, and rising to be the number two golfer in the world. But every dream comes with a price. Feeling that he was never good enough, Bubba began to let the constant criticism from fans and commentators haunt his thoughts. Success in the game he loved was killing him. In Up and Down, Bubba opens up about his debilitating anxiety attacks, the death of his father and namesake, adopting his children, and how reaching a breaking point professionally and personally drew him closer to his family and God. Golf is what Bubba Watson does, but it is not who he is. Through his story, you'll learn how Bubba: Overcame his anxiety and feelings of inadequacy Found his true identity not in the standards of the world, but in the God who already knows he is enough Learned to trust God with his gifts, family, and biggest dreams Became the husband, father, friend, and mentor he was called to be Life, like golf, is filled with ups and downs. Up and Down is the inspiring story of an imperfect man striving to become the best person he can be-wherever the course may take him.

It is 1946. World War II is over. As the rest of Europe struggles to rebuild itself, Greece--which had bitterly resisted Nazi occupation--is ripped apart by civil war. Thousands are dead or dying of starvation. In the face of such epic disaster, one Greek athlete takes valiant action. This is the true story of Stylianos Kyriakides, champion Greek runner who against all odds entered the 1946 Boston, Marathon, a race he had lost eight years before. Now Kyriakides ran not just to win, but to wake the world to the plight of his people. Although ravaged by hunger, Kyriakides pushed his wracked body to the limits. Boston doctors urged him to quit. "You will die in the streets," they warned. Fueled by dauntless devotion to his countrymen and bolstered by the love of his wife, the runner persevered and triumphed. But winning the marathon was only the first step. With characteristic grit, Kyriakides remained in the United States long enough to raise money, equipment, and medical supplies for his country. A grateful Greece proclaimed him a hero. Nearly one million welcomed him home. Drawing on interviews and unprecedented access to family photos and papers, the authors vividly chronicle the real-life drama of Kyriakides: a runner who raced not for gold or glory, but for the betterment of his people and the survival of his homeland. From the shadowy Berlin Olympics to the dark days of Nazi Greece and its aftermath, Running with Pheidippides speaks vividly of war and deprivation, of athletic competition and camaraderie, of genuine valor in a world bereft of heroes. "For those of us who were young and Greek-American," recalls former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, "his victory in the 1946 Boston Marathon and the response of so many Americans to his pleas for help for his people was one of the most searing experiences of our young lives."

An electrifying look inside the wild world of extreme distance running.

Once the reserve of only the most hardcore enthusiasts, ultra running is now a thriving global industry, with hundreds of thousands of competitors each year. But is the rise of this most brutal and challenging sport—with races that extend into hundreds of miles, often in extreme environments—an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness?

In The Rise of the Ultra Runners, award-winning author Adharanand Finn travels to the heart of the sport to investigate the reasons behind its rise and discover what it takes to join the ranks of these ultra athletes. Through encounters with the extreme and colorful characters of the ultramarathon world, and his own experiences of running ultras everywhere from the deserts of Oman to the Rocky Mountains, Finn offers a fascinating account of people testing the boundaries of human endeavor.

Nile Wilson is known to many as a Great Britain Gymnast who won a Bronze Medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and who is England's most successful ever gymnast at a Commonwealth Games following his 5 medals in 2018\. Yet, Nile is so much more than just a gymnast. A YouTuber with over a million subscribers, a social media influencer, a successful businessman and entrepeneur, Nile is also an advocate for mental health awareness, and who has been very open about his own personal struggles. Nile Wilson - My Story gives an unprecedented look into Nile's true battle to be fit and ready for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics - throughout the Games and the aftermath. The public perception of Nile Wilson is his humour, openness and how down to earth he is, all of which is true. Due to this perception however, people presume they know everything about him. This book will shatter that perception, and reveal the struggles behind the smiles, from the brutal reality of performing at an elite sporting level, to the mental health battles Nile has had to fight - and continues to fight - every day.

The tragic death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011 and helped shatter the silence about violence and concussions in professional sports. Now, in a gripping work of narrative nonfiction, acclaimed reporter John Branch tells the shocking story of Boogaard's life and heartbreaking death. Boy on Ice is the richly told story of a mountain of a man who made it to the absolute pinnacle of his sport. Widely regarded as the toughest man in the NHL, Boogaard was a gentle man off the ice but a merciless fighter on it. With great narrative drive, Branch recounts Boogaard's unlikely journey from lumbering kid playing pond-hockey on the prairies of Saskatchewan, so big his skates would routinely break beneath his feet; to his teenaged junior hockey days, when one brutal outburst of violence brought Boogaard to the attention of professional scouts; to his days and nights as a star enforcer with the Minnesota Wild and the storied New York Rangers, capable of delivering career-ending punches and intimidating entire teams. But, as Branch reveals, behind the scenes Boogaard's injuries and concussions were mounting and his mental state was deteriorating, culminating in his early death from an overdose of alcohol and painkillers. Based on months of investigation and hundreds of interviews with Boogaard's family, friends, teammates, and coaches, Boy on Ice is a brilliant work for fans of Michael Lewis's The Blind Side or Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights. This is a book that raises deep and disturbing questions about the systemic brutality of contact sports-from peewees to professionals-and the damage that reaches far beyond the game.

James Gordon Bennett was born in 1841, a spoilt only son who took over as publisher of the New York Herald from his millionaire father. Bennett tirelessly supported pioneering fields of technology and sport, always with speed in mind. In 1899, fascinated by the new motor cars, he instigated the International Gordon Bennett Cup. The inaugural race took place in 1900 between Paris and Lyon. Three countries entered, but this was just the beginning of a massive phenomenon that, thanks to Bennett, saw spectators grow from less than a hundred to eighty-thousand. The widespread anti-car sentiment, endless bureaucracy, speed limits, safety and design challenges were all obstacles to overcome. Each Gordon Bennett Cup Race is documented here with an account of the drivers, the cars, the courses and the thrilling highs and lows of the events. The 1903 Cup, which was held in Ireland, was crucial since for the very first time a closed-circuit course was used. It was also the first international race in the British Isles. His dedicated promotion of early motor-car racing gave a boost to the global auto-industry and was a firm basis to the international racing that is still a thrilling part of our lives over 100 years later.

Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was is the first biography of Jan Ullrich, arguably the most naturally talented cyclist of his generation, and also one of the most controversial champions of the Tour de France. In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world by obliterating his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves throughout the world of cycling and invited headlines such as L'Equipe's 'The New Giant'. He went on to become Germany's first ever Tour winner, storming to victory in that edition by almost ten minutes, a result that was greeted as an era-defining changing of the guard. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling. He was soon also voted Germany's most popular sportsperson of all time, and his rivalry with Lance Armstrong defined the most controversial years of the Tour de France. Now, Daniel Friebe - who has covered twenty-one editions of the Tour de France - has gone in search of the man who was said in 1997 would go on to dominate his sport for a generation, but never quite managed it. Just what did happen to the best who never was? This is a gripping account of how unbearable expectation, mental and physical fragility, the effects of a complicated childhood, a morally corrupt sport and one individual - Lance Armstrong - can conspire to reroute destiny. Daniel Friebe takes us from the legacy of East Germany's drugs programme to the pinnacle of pro cycling and asks: what price can you give sporting immortality?

Tim Moore completes his epic (and ill-advised) trilogy of cycling's Grand Tours. Julian Berrendero's victory in the 1941 Vuelta a Espana was an extraordinary exercise in sporting redemption: the Spanish cyclist had just spent 18 months in Franco's concentration camps, punishment for expressing Republican sympathies during the civil war. Seventy nine years later, perennially over-ambitious cyclo-adventurer Tim Moore developed a fascination with Berrendero's story, and having borrowed an old road bike with the great man's name plastered all over it, set off to retrace the 4,409km route of his 1941 triumph - in the midst of a global pandemic. What follows is a tale of brutal heat and lonely roads, of glory, humiliation, and then a bit more humiliation. Along the way Tim recounts the civil war's still-vivid tragedies, and finds the gregarious but impressively responsible locals torn between welcoming their nation's only foreign visitor, and bundling him and his filthy bike into a vat of antiviral gel.

In her funny, poignant and absorbing memoir, 'Mad Lizzie' Webb charts her phenomenal rise from a drama and dance teacher to being crowned the beloved fitness queen of breakfast television. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Lizzie Webb inspired a nation of couch potatoes to get up and move as TV-am's fitness guru. The music featured in her routines shot to the top of the charts, resulting in hits for the likes of Take That, Sonia and George Harrison. She also collaborated with Simon Cowell for several years. Meanwhile, outside her television work Lizzie has been committed to working with young people, creating life-changing opportunities with exercise, dance and drama that have helped transform the lives of vulnerable children, juvenile offenders and former prisoners. Filled with heartfelt stories of the wonderful people she has helped along the way, as well as fond reminiscences and hilarious stories from her time on breakfast TV, Mad About the Boys reveals the fascinating two sides to Lizzie's extraordinary and inspiring life.

The definitive biography of Cristiano Ronaldo, named Football Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards 2016 Fully updated to include the 2017-18 season and Ronaldo's transfer to Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time, a dream he pursued from the age of just twelve when he left his humble origins on Madeira behind. It wasn't long before he had the biggest clubs in Europe knocking on his door, but it was Manchester United who won the race for his signature. Under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo developed into the complete footballer and athlete, winning three league titles and a Champions League along the way. He then became the biggest galactico of them all when he transferred to Real Madrid for a record-breaking fee. Unprecedented success in the Champions League and a record-equalling five Ballons d'Or followed, before his sensational move to Juventus in the summer of 2018. Guillem Balague, respected football journalist and expert on the Spanish game, provides the definitive account of a twenty-first-century footballing icon.

'After all this time Frankie Dettori still ranks amongst the all-time greats of the sport' LESTER PIGGOTT 'An autobiography as gripping as any Dick Francis thriller' YORKSHIRE POST 'Endearingly honest... a fastpaced, funny autobiography' COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE Legendary jockey, Frankie Dettori, shares his remarkable life story in this astonishingly intimate autobiography. When Lanfranco 'Frankie' Dettori arrived on British shores in 1985, aged just 14, he couldn't speak a word of English. Having left school just a year earlier and following in the footsteps of his father, he was eager to become a stable boy and apprentice jockey, willing to do everything it took to make it. This was his first, but certainly not his last, leap of faith. Despite his slight size, Frankie's impact upon the British racing scene was immediate and significant. Brimming with confidence, charisma and personality, and with what was clearly a precocious talent, in 1990 he became the first teenager since Lester Piggot to win over 100 races in a single season. By 1996, Frankie was already established as a celebrity in the sport and an adopted national treasure, but it was his extraordinary achievement of winning all seven races in a single day at Ascot that cemented his reputation as the greatest rider of his generation. Nearly 25 years later, and having won the Longines World's Best Jockey for three consecutive years running, Frankie has demonstrated an unparalled level of longevity at the pinnacle of his sport. But his story is not simply one of uninterrupted success, but also of personal anguish, recovery and restoration - both in and out of the saddle. Now, Frankie compellingly reveals the lows to his highs; the plane crash that nearly killed him, the drugs ban that nearly made him quit the sport, and the acrimonious split from Godolphin that threatened his future. But Leap of Faith is also a story of love - for the sport he continues to dominate to this day, the great horses of his era (Stradivarius, Golden Horn, and of course Enable), and most importantly for his family, who have supported him every step of the way. Heartfelt and poignant, this is not simply a memoir, but a celebration of perseverance and defying the odds.

In the early 1970s, the athletes of the German Democratic Republic started to achieve incredible sports results, winning medals and setting new world records with astonishing frequency. For many years, their sporting supremacy was hailed as a triumph of the socialist government's commitment to scientific research and innovative training methods. But after the Cold War ended, the Stasi archives revealed a sinister secret behind the successes: a perverse doping system imposed by the government itself. Drugs were administered to young athletes, often without their consent, and the price their bodies are now paying is very high, both physically and mentally. Through the athletes' personal stories, Synthetic Medals reveals the events that led to the discovery of the state-doping system and the subsequent trial. It also explores the state's motives for this crime against its own people - people who were sacrificed on the altar of a distorted ideology, for the simple purpose of achieving glory on the international chessboard.

In the 1970s, a decade before bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the phrase Eddie Would Go began popping up all over the Hawaiian islands and throughout the surfing world, Eddie Aikau was proving what it meant to be a "waterman." As a fearless and gifted surfer, he rode the biggest waves in the world; as the first and most famous Waimea Bay lifeguard on the North Shore, he saved hundreds of lives from its treacherous waters; and as a proud Hawaiian, he sacrificed his life to save the crew aboard the voyaging canoe Hokule'a.

Eddie Would Go is the compelling story of Eddie Aikau's legendary life and legacy, a pipeline into the exhilarating world of surfing, and an important chronicle of the Hawaiian Renaissance and the emergence of modern Hawaii.

'Elite athletes aren't born. They're made.' Michael Johnson From a living icon of the Olympic Games - as both an athlete and now as a BBC broadcaster - Gold Rush is a compelling analysis of the fascinating combination of psychological and personal qualities, as well as internal and external factors, that go to create an Olympic champion. This exciting new book is based on Michael Johnson's own experiences as an iconic four-time Olympic champion, and on the knowledge he has gleaned as a top-class coach and motivational speaker. It also features, uniquely, more than a dozen exclusive and insightful interviews with Olympic legends from across several different sports who between them have claimed more than 50 gold medals over the past 30 years. In essence, Johnson has assembled his very own Olympic Hall of Fame in assessing the DNA of true champions. Gold Rush is themed around chapters in which Johnson will discuss each of the key qualities/factors. He expertly feeds in fascinating first-person testimonies from the Olympic legends. In the process he builds up a definitive knowledge bank of expertise and experience from athletes who have been on this fascinating journey, encountered the highs and the lows, but ultimately reached the summit - an Olympic gold medal. Johnson's interviewees include: Usain Bolt Carl Lewis Sally Gunnell Seb Coe Daley Thompson Cathy Freeman Ian Thorpe Michael Phelps Rebecca Adlington Chris Hoy Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent Lennox Lewis Michael Jordan

A cultural and business history of the UFC, tracing the unlikely rise of mixed martial arts from what was derided in the '90s as 'human cockfighting' - more violence than sport - to a global pop culture phenomenon. Senator John McCain once decried mixed martial arts as 'human cockfighting,' while the New York Times despaired that the sport offered a 'pay-per-view prism' onto the decline of western civilisation. But the violent spectacle of cage fighting no longer feels nearly as scandalous as it did when the sport debuted in 1993. Today, it's spoken of reverentially as a kind of 'human chess' played out in real-time between two bodies and the UFC is one of the most valuable franchises in the world, worth more than any team in the NFL, NBA, or MLB and equal to what Disney paid to acquire Marvel Comics. Once banned in thirty-six states and hovering on the edge of bankruptcy, the UFC has evolved into a $10 billion industry. How did cage fighting go so mainstream? A rollicking behind-the-scenes account of one of the most spectacular upsets in American sports history, Cage Kings follows the desperate fighters, audacious promoters, fanboy bloggers, fatherly trainers, philosophical announcers, hustling sponsors, and three improbable twentysomething corporate titans on a darkly comic odyssey to normalize a new level of brutality in American pop culture-and make a fortune doing so. Stylishly written and poignantly observed, the book offers a provocative look at how the hollowing out of the American dream over the past three decades and the violence endemic to modern capitalism left us ready to embrace a sport like cage fighting.

As a rookie head coach leading a franchise that, though on a steady climb upwards, had largely been dismissed by the sports media, NBA fans had low expectations for Nick Nurse and his Raptors. But what those naysayers didn't realise was that Nurse had spent the past thirty years proving himself at every level of the game, from youth programs and college ball, to the NBA G League and Britain's struggling pro circuit. While few coaches have taken such a circuitous path to pro basketball's promise land, the journey-- which began at Keumper Catholic high school in Carroll, Iowa -- forged a coach who proved to be as unshakeable as he is personable. On the road, he is now known to bring his guitar and keyboard for late-night jazz and blues sessions. In the locker room, he's steadfast and even-keeled regardless of the score. On the court, he pulls out old school, underrated plays with astounding success. A rookie in name but a veteran in attitude, Nurse is seemingly above the chaos of the game and, with two seasons on his resume, -has established himself, incredibly, as one of the NBA's most admired head coaches. Now, in this revealing new book - which will be equal parts personal memoir, leadership manifesto, and philosophical meditation - Nurse tells his own story, while also whisking readers inside the Raptors' locker room and coach's office for an intimate study of the team culture he has built and promises to sustain. As much for readers of Ray Dalio as for fans of John Wooden and Pat Summit, the result promises to become necessary for anyone looking to forge their own path to success.

Sir Learie Constantine was an extraordinary figure by any yardstick. One of the greatest and most popular of all West Indian cricketers, he left the game to become, among other things, a barrister, cabinet minister, diplomat, broadcaster, author and journalist. The first black man to enter the House of Lords, he was a tireless campaigner for racial equality and West Indian self-government whose forthright response to racial discrimination led to a celebrated legal case that laid the foundations for Britains first Race Relations Act. Above all, however, he was an immensely popular public figure throughout his life.

The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. In 2008, Paul Newman tasked his best friend with interviewing the people who had shaped his life, in order to create an oral history of it. After hearing and reading what they had to say, Newman dictated his own version. Now, this long-lost memoir will be published. Full of wonderful stories and recollections by his family, friends, and such luminaries as Elia Kazan, Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill and Martin Ritt, this book will surprise and shock readers as it reveals Newman's previously unknown sides. In this extraordinary memoir, Newman details his fascinating story: from troubled beginnings, marked by fraught relationships with both his mother and father, to the iconic film roles (both good and bad) that cemented his status as a Hollywood icon and heartthrob, and the complicated relationships that were formed along the way.