Olympics category: 421 books

Discover the lost history of the Ancient Olympic Games.In popular belief, the Olympic Games were primarily a Greek invention. But this covers a secret history that connects the games not only to the “classical” societies of the Greeks and Romans, but also to the supposedly barbarian tribes...

Kim Rhode, an expert target shooter, ranks among the handful of Greatest Olympians of All Time who have won medals across five straight Olympics. Going into the skeet shooting competition at Rio 2016, Rhode was attempting what had never been done: win six consective medals. Challenged by young crack...

Coming out of Flint, Michigan might mean bleak prospects for some, but boxer Claressa Shields planned to bring glory to her hometown from the time she was a little girl. After winning a gold medal at the London Olympics, she intended to win a second in Rio, even though no American boxer had ever done...

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, hoped to cement the future of the Games with a triumphant celebration of the second Olympiad in his native Paris in 1900. The II Olympiad-Paris 1900, the third volume in The Olympic Century series, tells the story of a fledgling movement...

After winning a gold medal in London and medaling in every Olympics since water polo for women had been established, you'd think the U.S. women's fight another gold would have garnered some notice. You'd think that a sport which combines soccer, swimming, and mixed martial arts—all popular American...

It's the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Walker makes a comeback after his three-and-a half years as a recluse following his marathon victory in Athens, 2004. With some incredible track and field performances, he proves that dedication, diet and extreme physical fitness can beat the cheats who resort to performance-enhancing...

Basketball is a game that is famous worldwide. There is no one around the world who does not know about basketball or even heard about the game. And nowadays, there are different leagues and governing bodies for the game; NBA being the most famous league and FIBA as the highest governing body. With...

- How far did each torchbearer carry the Olympic Flame? (Sample from The Fourth Challenge, Question  #23) - Which British runner had to withdraw from the London 2012 Marathon due to an injury?   (Sample from The Second Challenge, Sample from Question #23) - How...

In the summer of 1912 Hopi runner Louis Tewanima won silver in the 10,000-meter race at the Stockholm Olympics. In that same year Tewanima and another champion Hopi runner, Philip Zeyouma, were soundly defeated by two Hopi elders in a race hosted by members of the tribe. Long before Hopis won trophy...

The Paralympic Games is the second largest multi-sport festival on earth and an event which poses profound and challenging questions about the nature of sport, disability and society. The Paralympic Games Explained is the first complete introduction to the Paralympic phenomenon, exploring every key...

Elderly widow Francesca Hartford is fearful about being a volunteer at the London 2012 Olympics. Her husband, Donald, had died three months before the Games were about to start so who would give her encouragement now?

'I hope the Romanian doesn't get through, because I can't pronounce her bloody name.' Allegedly from David Coleman, British radio and TV commentator, at one of his many Olympic coverages, when he thought he was off air. A Lifetime of Training for Just 10 Seconds is a collection of quotations...

The Olympic gold medalist offers a poignant, loving account of her life with her long-time partner and beloved husband, Sergei Grinkov, from their first introduction and successive world pairs skating championships, to their storybook romance and marriage, to the fatal heart attack that took Sergei's life.

THE FIRST FEMALE MUSLIM AMERICAN TO MEDAL AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES NAMED ONE OF TIME'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE Growing up in New Jersey as the only African American Muslim at school, Ibtihaj Muhammad always had to find her own way. When she discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved...