My Olympic Life

My Olympic Life PDF Author: Anita L DeFrantz
Publisher: Cedric D. Fisher Publishers
ISBN: 9781736001332
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
The Life Story of Anita L. DeFrantz

My Olympic Life

My Olympic Life PDF Author: Anita L DeFrantz
Publisher: Cedric D. Fisher Publishers
ISBN: 9781736001332
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
The Life Story of Anita L. DeFrantz

Running for My Life

Running for My Life PDF Author: Lopez Lomong
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 1595555153
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Offers the true story of a Sudanese boy who, through unyielding faith, overcame a wartorn nation to become an American citizen and an Olympic contender.

Never Stop Pushing

Never Stop Pushing PDF Author: Rulon Gardner
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0786738278
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
Never Stop Pushing is a motivational autobiography by Olympic Greco-Roman champion wrestler Rulon Gardner (Gold Medal, 2000; Bronze Medal, 2004). This inspiring memoir comes from one of the world's most remarkable athletes who achieved arguably the greatest upset in individual sports history when he defeated the Russian Alexander Karelin -- three-time Olympic champ, undefeated and unscored upon for a decade before his match with Gardner -- in the 2000 Gold Medal match. Rulon Gardner tells the story of his impoverished upbringing as one of nine children in a close-knit Mormon family on a farm in Wyoming, where in performing unceasing chores he developed tremendous strength at an early age. Gardner writes about his struggles in school made arduous by learning disabilities that have challenged him his whole life. Also, after winning his Gold Medal, we read how this champion survived a snowmobile accident that marooned him outdoors for eighteen hours in high country. Rulon Gardner recovered from this and went on to defend his Gold Medal at Athens in 2004 -- yet another comeback from this athlete who was supposed to simply fade away.

As I Am

As I Am PDF Author: Elizabeth Manley
Publisher: CDG Books Canada
ISBN: 9780771576683
Category : Skaters
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Skating professionally for eleven years, Elizabeth Manley has experienced every facet of the figure skating and entertainment worlds. Dubbed "Canada's Sweetheart" after winning the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, she quickly became one of the country's most popular figure skaters, and her first autobiography, released in 1989, was a Canadian bestseller. In her new book, As I Am, Liz takes readers through her tumultuous years as the star of the Ice Capades, including battles with her weight, depression, skating injuries, accusations of substance abuse and her shocking dismissal from a major skating tour. Liz also reveals the story of her obsessive and abusive relationship with one man, focusing as well on the image problems that female skaters face, which often lead to low self-esteem and eating disorders. With startling candour, Liz relates how she hit rock bottom and details her long struggle back to the top of the professional figure skating world, where she now competes and performs alongside an elite few. As I Am is a painfully honest account that will appeal to figure skating fans and women everywhere.

Chalked Up

Chalked Up PDF Author: Jennifer Sey
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061351466
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The true story of the 1986 U.S. National Gymnastics champion whose lifelong dream was to compete in the Olympics, until anorexia, injuries, and coaching abuses nearly destroyed her Fanciful dreams of gold medals and Nadia Comaneci led Jennifer Sey to become a gymnast at the age of six. She was a natural at the sport, and her early success propelled her family to sacrifice everything to help her become, by age eleven, one of America’s elite,competing at prestigious events worldwide alongside such future gymnastics’ luminaries as Mary Lou Retton. But as she set her sights higher and higher—the senior national team, the World Championships, the 1988 Olympics—Sey began to change, putting her needs, her health, and her well-being aside in the name of winning. And the adults in her life refused to notice her downward spiral. In Chalked Up Sey reveals the tarnish behind her gold medals. A powerful portrait of intensity and drive, eating disorders and stage parents, abusive coaches and manipulative businessmen, denial and the seduction of success, it is the story of a young girl whose dreams would become eclipsed by the adults around her. As she recounts her experiences, Sey sheds light on the destructiveness of our winning-is-everything culture where underage and underweight girls are celebrated and on the need for balance in children’s lives.

It's Not About Perfect

It's Not About Perfect PDF Author: Shannon Miller
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466850841
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
It's Not About Perfect is inspirational memoir of the most decorated gymnast in American history, her recovery from cancer, and her miracle pregnancy. "When the odds were against me, I was always at my best." When she retired at age 19, Shannon Miller did so as one of the most recognizable gymnasts in the country. The winner of seven Olympic medals and the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in U.S. history, Shannon tells a story of surviving and thriving. A shy, rambunctious girl raised in Oklahoma, Shannon fell in love with gymnastics at a young age and fought her way to the top. In 1992 she won five Olympic medals after breaking her elbow in a training accident just months prior to the Games. Then, in 1996, a doctor advised her to retire immediately or face dire consequences if she chose to compete on her injured wrist. Undeterred, Shannon endured the pain and led her team, the "Magnificent Seven," to the first Olympic team gold medal for the United States in gymnastics. She followed up as the first American to win gold on the balance beam. Equally intense, heroic and gratifying is the story of her brutal but successful battle with ovarian cancer, a disease from which fewer than fifty percent survive. Relying on her faith and hard-learned perseverance, Shannon battled through surgery and major chemotherapy to emerge on the other side with a miracle baby girl. Her story of trial, triumph and life after cancer reminds us all that its life's bumps and bruises that reveal our character. From early on in her career, Shannon knew that life wasn't about perfection. In this incredible and inspirational tale, Shannon speaks out so as to be seen and heard by thousands as a beacon of hope.

But Now I See

But Now I See PDF Author: Steven Holcomb
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1937856011
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
One of the top bobsledders in the world and leader of the four-man American team, Steven Holcomb had finished sixth in the 2006 Olympics and medaled in nearly every competition he entered. He was considered a strong gold contender for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Talented, aggressive, and fearless, he was at the top of his game. But Steven Holcomb had a dangerous secret. Steven Holcomb was going blind. In the prime of his athletic career, he was diagnosed with keratoconus—a degenerative disease affecting 1 in 1,000 and leaving 1 in 4 totally blind without a cornea transplant. In the world of competitive sports, it was a dream killer. Not a sport for the timid, bobsledding speeds approach 100 miles per hour through a series of hairpin turns. Serious injuries—even deaths—can result. But Holcomb kept his secret from his coach, sled mates, and the public for months and continued to drive the legendary sled The Night Train. When he finally told his coach, Holcomb was led to a revolutionary treatment, later named the Holcomb C3-R. With his sight restored to 20/20, Holcomb became the first American in 50 years to win the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation World Championship, and the first American bobsledder since 1948 to win the Olympic gold medal. With a foreword by Geoff Bodine, NASCAR champion and founder of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, But Now I See is the intimate portrait of a man's pursuit of a dream, laced with humility and the faith to find a way when all seems hopeless. It's about knowing anything is possible and the gift of a second chance.

Mark Spitz

Mark Spitz PDF Author: Richard J. Foster
Publisher: Santa Monica PressLlc
ISBN: 9781595800398
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Presents a biography of the swimmer who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.

A Skating Life

A Skating Life PDF Author: Dorothy Hamill
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 1401389783
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
The dazzling smile, the signature haircut, the staple spin. "America's Sweetheart" Dorothy Hamill grew up on the ice, working toward the dream she was to accomplish by age nineteen: winning Olympic gold in figure skating. But life was not the picture of perfection it appeared to be. Dorothy faced a painful inner struggle from the time she was a young girl that followed her into adulthood--though she would not know about the depression that ran in her family until much later in life. Weeks and months away from home to train and compete took a difficult toll, yet little reprieve could be found in the tumultuous and fragile relationship she had with her parents. Dorothy went on to marry the man of her dreams, only to have the partnership end in heartache and a tragedy that almost pushed her to her breaking point. Then, just when a light at the end of the tunnel finally began to appear, a second failed marriage tried and tested Dorothy's trust and strength yet again--a travesty that could have led her to give up. But, she found a remarkable strength in what she did have--her greatest love, her daughter Alexandra. "Thank goodness, I had my skating. There was certainly a pattern to my life. When times were tough, I went skating. It was only while I was out on the ice, enjoying the freedom of movement and my love of music, that I was able to escape from my bottomless heartache." In her deeply moving and honest memoir, Dorothy opens up for the first time about love, family, courage, and what it means to truly win both on and off the ice.

Zero Regrets

Zero Regrets PDF Author: Apolo Ohno
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451609078
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Over three consecutive Olympic games, Ohno has come to symbolize the very best of the competitive spirit--remaining equally gracious in victory and defeat, always striving to improve his performance, and appreciating the value of the hard work of training as much as any reward it might bring.