Showing results for "The Olympics" in Biographies & Memoirs

Abhinav Bindra once shot 100 out of 100 in practice six times in a row and walked out of the range unhappy. He is a perfectionist who once soled his shoes with rubber from Ferrari tyres because he thought it would help. He would wake up at 3:00 a.m. to practise at his range at home if an idea suddenly struck him. It is from such obsession that greatness arrives.

Just in time for the 2012 Olympics - prepare to peek into the mind of a champion with this newly updated edition of Michael Phelps’ autobiography, Beneath the Surface. In this candid memoir, Phelps talks openly about his battle with attention deficit disorder, the trauma of his parents’ divorce, and the challenges that come with being thrust into the limelight.

The first Olympic women's marathon and the battle for the right to run.

Autobiography of Hall of Fame basketball star Clyde Drexler, one of basketball history's most dynamic players. Through his fifteen-year career as an NBA player, Clyde Drexler played with elegance and flair, leadership and poise, integrity and an ability to come through in the clutch. He led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice and helped the Houston Rockets win the NBA championship in 1995. A ten-time All-Star, a member of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, and now a member of basketball’s Hall of Fame, Drexler reached the top of his profession without revealing many of his inner thoughts on himself or the game.

The incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie. THE INTERNATIONAL NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Against all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louise Zamperini had already transformed himself from...

Tia Toomey, the world's fittest woman, has won the CrossFit Games an incredible six years in a row and is undeniably a true warrior. She has also trained for the Winter Olympics in bobsledding, competed in the Summer Olympics in weightlifting and was a Commonwealth Games gold medalist. She is, in short, one of the most accomplished and dominant athletes in human history. But for Tia physical fitness is only a small part of overall strength. More important is building mental toughness. In The Heart Is the Strongest Muscle, Tia shows how she reached elite levels by focusing on her "why."

In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying and storm troopers looming, an African-American son of sharecroppers set three world records and won an unprecedented four gold medals, single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. The story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics Games is that of a high-profile athlete giving a performance that transcends sports. But it is also the intimate and complex tale of the courage of one remarkable man.

'It's an incredible read for anyone facing adversity in their life; how to cope with it, how to stay positive in really difficult situations.' - Sally Nugent The instant no. 1 Sunday Times bestseller WINNER of the Autobiography of the Year at the Sports Book Awards 2025 A Sunday Times best...

In sports, not all the long shots who succeed are athletes. In 1984, Tom Hammond, a forty-year-old sportscaster who had primarily worked in Kentucky and the Southeast, got an unlikely opportunity to appear on the NBC Sports telecast of the inaugural Breeders' Cup. Assigned to report from the stall area on what was supposed to be a single broadcast, Hammond performed so well that an NBC executive offered him a chance to call NFL games on the spot.

Chronicling the stories of fifty of India's leading Olympians for the first time ever in one comprehensive edition, Digvijay Singh Deo and Amit Bose bring you the Games through the eyes of some of the best sportspersons in the country. These first-person accounts of Olympic medallists...

Read by John McEnroe and Patty Smyth 'The follow up volume to 2002's best-selling Serious, and every bit as entertaining' DAILY MAIL 'Who can forget the shouty bad boy, infamous for his temper! Now a respected elder statesman of tennis, his fascinating memoir reveals all' BEST He is one of the...

Nine states. Two control freaks. One steering wheel. What could possibly go wrong? It may be that a marriage ends not with a whimper but with the slam of a car door on a deserted stretch of highway. Most married couples know better than to put themselves in each other's way, but in Ken La Salle's first autobiographical monologue, he tells about how he and his wife of eight years did just that on a road trip that probably should never have happened.

A powerful story of resilience, leadership and staying true to yourself. Annastacia Palaszczuk made history when she became the first woman to win the premiership of Queensland from opposition. She made history again when she became the first female premier in the nation to secure three...

Every 4 years we get a chance to see the world's best athletes compete in the Olympics. Well, here's a few points to ponder, and some things you may not know!

Every summer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Nick Baumgartner went to work pouring concrete, taking on the harsh physical conditions of the construction trade to support his professional snowboarding dreams come winter. To limit travel time while he trained for the Olympics an hour and a half away from home, he lived out of a crusty, old construction van, parked anywhere he could find a spot. And in 2022, after seventeen years of failure—all the crashes, injuries, and personal setbacks—he won Olympic gold at forty years old, becoming the oldest Olympic snowboard medalist in history.

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who made history at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, by winning four gold medals. He was the most successful athlete at the Games and, as a black American man, was credited with single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. Owens remains as one of the greatest athletes in track and field history. The following audio clips include an interview with Owens by German radio just before competition at the Olympics, and three separate takes of an interview with American media shortly after the games.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will be the stage for many compelling stories. Athletes like Ashley Wagner and Sven Kramer are windows into hidden social phenomena, from figure skating's eating disorders to the Dutch obsession with speed skating. Controversies like the Russian doping scandal, the NHL player ban, and the question of whether North Korea will compete or disrupt are creating human drama that affects thousands of athletes.

The Munich Massacre: How the 1972 Olympics Turned into a Tragic Hostage Crisis Explore the chilling story of the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics, where Palestinian militants took Israeli athletes hostage in a tragedy that changed Olympic security forever. Discover the full timeline, the failed rescue attempt, and its lasting impact on global sports. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.

Hear the voices of Olympic Track Greats, including Jesse Owens, winner of 4 Gold Medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; Josy Barthel, a Luxembougish runner who won the men's 1500 meters at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics; and Roger Bannister, an English athlete best known for breaking the four-minute mile.

The ultimate roadmap for female distance runners, from two-time Olympian Molly Huddle and two-time NCAA champion Sara Slattery—featuring 50 candid interviews with women who’ve made it The road from a high school track to an Olympic starting line is long and sometimes shadowy. Obstacles...