The image of Samia Yusuf Omar running for last place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will forever be imprinted in the minds of all who saw it: The lean Somalian, wearing knee-length leggings and a baggy T-shirt, came in seconds behind her competitors. What the cheering crowd couldn't know then was what it took to get there. An Olympic Dream follows Omar's second attempt to represent her country at the Olympics, this time in London. Reinhard Kleist pictures the athlete training in one of the most dangerous cities in the world; her passage through Sudan and into Libya; and her fateful attempt to reach Europe. By telling the story of one remarkable woman, Kleist gives voice to the thousands of migrants who risk their lives daily for a better future.

Already the world has seen the political, economic, and cultural significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing—in policies instituted and altered, positions softened, projects undertaken. But will the Olympics make a lasting difference? This book approaches questions about the nature and future of China through the lens of sports—particularly as sports finds its utmost international expression in the Olympics.

When Katie Taylor was chosen to bear the Irish flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, the pressure was on for her to deliver gold for Ireland when she stepped into the boxing ring. It was the first time that the Olympics had included women's boxing as one of its events, and she knew she had to deliver - especially as she had campaigned for this chance. She had won four World Amateur Championship titles since 2006, but this was the biggest tournament of he career. Taylor reveals how she trained and prepared for the Olympics, and explains what got her into boxing in the first place. A committed Christian,she trusted in her faith to see her through the toughest challenges. With the whole nation willing her on, and her home town of Bray having ground to a halt, on 9 August she fulfilled her Olympic dream, winning gold in a close-fought contest. And Ireland celebrated with her. Taylor relives these glorious moments, and looks back on the triumph that changed her life forever. It is a special story from a truly remarkable woman.

From the age of nine, Michael dreams of playing basketball for the United States in the Olympics, and with hard work and his mother's encouragement, he realizes his dream. Full color.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics brought together athletes, politicians, socialites, journalists, soldiers and artists from all over the world. But behind the scenes, they were a dress rehearsal for the horrors of the forthcoming conflict. Hitler had secretly decided the Games would showcase Nazi prowess and the unwitting athletes became helpless pawns in his sinister political game. Berlin Games explores the machinations of a wide cast of characters, including sexually incontinent Nazis, corrupt Olympic officials, transvestite athletes and the mythic figure of Jesse Owens. By illuminating the dark, controversial recesses of the world's greatest sporting spectacle, Guy Walters throws shocking new light on the whole of Europe's troubled pre-war period.

"Lis Hartel became paralyzed after contracting polio in 1944. Her dreams of riding horses and competing in the sport of dressage were shattered. After months in the hospital, doctors told her she'd never ride again. Lis tried anyway. How do you stay on a horse without using your legs? How do you give the subtle cues needed in dressage with limited mobility? With hard work--and an unlikely horse named Jubilee. After years of training together and creating a new way of communicating, Lis and Jubilee danced into the competition ring, and eventually all the way to the Olympics. Lis Hartel was the first woman with a disability ever to win an Olympic medal, and the first woman to stand equally beside men on the Olympic winners' podium in any sport."--

The harrowing, triumphant tale of a cyclist's journey to Olympic victory and the price he paid to achieve greatness. Marty Nothstein, one of the greatest cyclists of all time, arrived at the 1996 Olympic Games a heavy favorite. In the match sprint at the Atlanta Olympics, an event akin to prizefighting on a bicycle, he raced around a banked, oval track. Nothstein lost by a hair's width on the finish line and vowed to win the gold at the next Olympics, saying, "I didn't come here for a silver medal." In The Price of Gold, Marty Nothstein eloquently and honestly tracks his journey to the games in Sydney and the events that molded him into the world's fastest man on a bicycle—from his tough-love upbringing in a blue-collar, split home, to the "borderline outlaw" cast of cycling characters who helped guide him through the ranks. "I had to become the worst, to become the best," Nothstein says of the single-minded determination that turned him into a veritable monster on his bike, but often forced him to neglect his own family. Sure to become a sports classic, this book will be published in time for the 2012 Olympics, when the world's eyes are trained on London and international conversation will turn to the question of what it takes to win the gold.