Go for the Gold

29 Jul Go for the Gold

It is time for another Summer Olympic Games! Commonly regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event, the Olympic Games take place once every four years. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, will begin on Friday, July 26 and run through Sunday, August 11. In honor of this event, we made a list of biographies written by or about Summer Olympic athletes below. Click on a book title to place a hold on a physical copy through the Evergreen catalog.

Coming Up for Air, Tom Daley

Warm, honest, and inspiring, this book offers a unique insight into the life and mindset of British diver Tom Daley. With each chapter, Daley reveals a lesson learned, from the resilience he developed competing at a world-class level to the courage he discovered while reclaiming the narrative around his sexuality and the perspective that family life has brought him.

Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything, Aly Raisman

Honest and heartfelt, frank and funny, American gymnast Aly Raisman enhances her story with never-before-published photos and excerpts from the personal journals she kept since childhood that chronicle memorable moments with her teammates and include hard-won advice for readers striving to rise above challenges, learn to love themselves and make their dreams come true.

Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith, Gabrielle Douglas

In this inspiring autobiography, American gymnast Gabrielle Douglas shares her journey of faith, perseverance, and determination – from the first time she entered a gymnasium to her gold-medal-winning performances – demonstrating to readers that they can reach their dreams when they let themselves soar.

The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete’s Battle with Mental Illness, Mary Pilon

Journalist Mary Pilon’s The Kevin Show details the many-sided struggle as American sailor Kevin Hall, his family, and the medical profession seek to understand and treat a psychiatric disorder whose euphoric highs and creative ties to pop culture have become inextricable from Hall’s experience of himself.

The Watermen: The Birth of American Swimming and One Young Man’s Fight to Capture Olympic Gold, Michael Loynd

Set in the early days of a rapidly changing twentieth century, The Watermen (a term used to describe men skilled in water sports) tells a story of grit, the growth of a new sport, and Charles Daniels’s determination to excel, interwoven with the compelling history of the struggle to establish the modern Olympics in an era when competitive sports were still in their infancy.