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.

"Momentum: Chasing the Olympic Dream" is a memoir that people are calling the best-ever look into ski culture. Pete Vordenberg is already a favorite writer in the XC ski magazine scene. Here he pulls out all the stops and opens skiing to all of life in a way we haven't seen before. Vordenberg is a two-time Olympian, NCAA Champ, and a current US Team Coach on a team which has, not coincidently, become the winningest team we've seen in decades. "Momentum" is about spirit and camaraderie. If you're tired of sports ego-mania and doping scandals, the big little world of American XC ski racing offers a breath of cold, fresh air."Momentum" is a non-linear voyage traveling the world, crossing from childhood to the edge of adulthood. It shares the quixotic humor, excitement, and poignancy inherent in the pursuit of something as unlikely as an American gold medal in XC. Americans in XC ski racing have to make their stand with little support, and great, continuous effort, for a long time -- about 15 years before they can expect best results. How to endure for that long? Vordenberg shows us that you can't make it without your family, friends and coaches. In "Momentum" we see friendships like we know sports can show us, but we also feel what it's like to be hanging in the wind oceans away from home and help. Why dedicate your life to such slim chances for victory and even less for livelihood? Vordenberg says: "This is not a retelling of the little engine that could. Rather, it is about why the little engine even tried." Bob Woodward, veteran ski journalist, says "The marvel of Vordenberg's book is that it appeals to the non-skier as well as to ski racers past and present. Healthy doses of self-revelation, touches of *On The Road*, and remarkable insights make this a unique book. It's supposedly about skiing--but it's more about life and seizing it."

"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."--

In a span of 81 days in 1978, Henry Rono broke four world records, committing the most ferocious assault on the track-and-field record books by a middle-distance runner in the history of the sport. This is what Henry Rono is known for. However, it is not who Henry Rono is. Henry Rono was born a poor Nandi in Kenya's Rift Valley. After an accident when he was two, doctors believed he would never again walk. This would be the first of countless obstacles Rono would have to overcome in order to pursue his two life goals: to first become the greatest runner in the world and then to become the best teacher he could be. Rono's first goal was accomplished in 1978, when he was considered not only the greatest track-and-field athlete in the world, but also by many to be the world's greatest athlete period. His second and greater goal, to become a teacher, was more difficult in coming. Once Rono became a star, coaches, agents, meet directors, and corrupt Kenyan athletic officials (whose boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Olympics turned Rono's dreams of Olympic gold into Olympic smoke rings), wanted him to serve as their personal moneymaker, and so they did everything they could to discourage Rono's pursuit of an education and dream of teaching. The corruption and discouragement Rono encountered, as well as his alienation and exile from his homeland and family, pushed him to 20 years of alcoholism and even occasional homelessness. This is the life story of Henry Rono, whose descent from triumph to abyss, and whose subsequent ascent from abyss to triumph, are perhaps steeper than those of any track-and field athlete in history.