Must-Read Books About the Olympics to Dig Into During the Paris Games 🥇Like this list

17 items

• Coming Home

  Griner, Brittney,

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  From the nine-time women's basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist -- a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home.

• Above the Noise

  My Story

  DeRozan, DeMar

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  DeMar DeRozan, Olympic gold medalist and six-time NBA All-Star, shares a groundbreaking and remarkable memoir chronicling a very public struggle with depression, in the hopes that other people will not suffer alone.

• Proud

  My Fight for An Unlikely American Dream

  Muhammad, Ibtihaj, 1985-

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  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 for the wealthy, she had to defy expectations and make a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Dear Black Girls

  How to Be True to You

  Wilson, A'ja, 1996-

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  From Olympic gold medalist and two-time professional basketball MVP A'ja Wilson comes an inspirational collection on what it means to grow up as a Black girl in America.

• Undisputed

  a Champion's Life

  Bailey, Donovan, 1967-

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  A memoir of Olympic glory, the value of mentorship and the courage to champion your own excellence, from the long-reigning world's fastest man, Canadian sprinting legend Donovan Bailey.

• The Race to Be Myself

  a Memoir

  Semenya, Caster, 1991-

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  Olympian and World Champion Caster Semenya is finally ready to share the vivid and heartbreaking story of how the world came to know her name. Thrust into the spotlight at eighteen years old after winning the Berlin World Championships in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Races

  the Trials & Triumphs of Canada's Fastest Family

  Jerome, Valerie (Valerie E.),

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  In the 1960s, Harry Jerome set 7 world records, including the 100-yard dash, earning him the title of the world's fastest man. His grandfather, John "Army" Howard, was Canada's first Black Olympian, running in Stockholm in 1912 against…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Magic

  the Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson

  Lazenby, Roland,

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  Through hundreds of interviews with Johnson’s coaches, representatives past and present, teammates, opponents, friends, and loved ones, as well as key conversations with Johnson himself over the years, Lazenby has produced a definitive…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Triumph

  the Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics

  Schaap, Jeremy,

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  In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying and storm troopers goose-stepping, an African-American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four Olympic gold medals and single-handedly crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. The story…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Butterfly

  From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope, and Triumph

  Mardini, Yusra,

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  The inspiring story of how one woman saved fellow refugees from drowning--and how she went on to become an Olympic swimmer.

• World's Fastest Man*

  the Incredible Life of Ben Johnson

  Ormsby, Mary,

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  For twenty-four hours in the summer of 1988, Canada's Ben Johnson was the most celebrated athlete on the planet, before testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs and giving back his medal. But there's more to the story, and sports…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Path Lit by Lightning

  the Life of Jim Thorpe

  Maraniss, David,

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  A biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete that goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty.

• One Life

  Rapinoe, Megan, 1985-

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  The Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion describes her childhood in a conservative California town, her athletic achievements, and her public advocacy of civil rights and urgently needed social change.

• Playing the Long Game

  a Memoir

  Sinclair, Christine, 1983-

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  Olympic soccer gold-medalist Christine Sinclair, the top international goal scorer of all time and one of Canada's greatest athletes, reflects on both her exhilarating successes and her heartbreaking failures.

• Beneath the Surface

  My Story

  Phelps, Michael, 1985-

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  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 Games

  a Global History of the Olympics

  Goldblatt, David, 1965-

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  From the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history through national triumphs and tragedies, individual victories and failures.

• Unsinkable

  My Untold Story

  Laumann, Silken, 1964-

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  Just ten weeks before the 1992 Olympic Games, Silken Laumann, the reigning world champion in single sculls rowing, suffered a brutal accident that left her right leg shattered and useless. Silken’s extraordinary story offers us an intimate…Read moreRead more of this annotation