Sportbiographien

Twenty years ago, rower Greg Searle won Gold in the Coxed Pair alongside his brother Jonny, at the Barcelona Olympic Games. At the age of 20, he received an MBE, and by the time he had reached his mid-thirties, his glorious career as an international athlete was over. Or was it? If Not Now, When? is a book about obsession; about the drive to be the best you can be, whatever your age. In April 2010, and almost two decades older than the rest of the British rowing squad, Greg made the decision to come out of retirement and go for gold again at the London 2012 Olympics. His journey gets to the very heart of what it means to compete; teamwork and loyalty, the struggle to deal with disappointment and the will to win. In the 2012 final, Greg won bronze as part of the men's eight and sealed his status as Olympic legend.

In December 2012, Juliana Buhring became the first woman to circumnavigate the world by bicycle. With only a few months of training and little sponsorship, support or money she left from Naples on 23 July 2012 to cycle the world. Raised in a religious cult as a child, Juliana finally broke away as a young adult and found her soul mate - an explorer seeking the source of unmapped rivers in Africa. When he was killed by a crocodile, her world went dark. To escape her grief, she decided to set herself a challenge. Having never seriously ridden a bike, she set out to ride around the world. 18,000 miles, 152 days, 4 continents, 19 countries, 29 punctures, 6 big mountains, 1 desert and a cyclone later, she made it back just days before Christmas with a Guinness World Record. Empowering, inspiring, often humorous, This Road I Ride is testimony to the power of sheer will to overcome any obstacle. Discover a true story of adventure, blood, sweat and gears.

Fowler: My Autobiography is a personal and honest account of a phenomenal life in football by goal-poacher Robbie Fowler.Pronounced as the greatest goal scoring talent since Jimmy Greaves, seventeen-year old Robbie Fowler was immediately catapulted to fame and fortune. The thin, baby-faced Toxteth lad, who had trampled the same streets as the rioters, was now a millionaire, an idol and inspiration to every kid who kicked a football. Yet his incredible potential was never quite realized. Injuries and persistent rumours of drug abuse and depression meant that though Fowler remains one of the most celebrated of Premiership stars, he never became the world-beater so many predicted. This is a fascinating and unbelievably frank insight into the beautiful game, taking us behind the closed doors of professional football to expose what really happens at both club and international level. This is a truthful and candid account of an incredible career, examining not just the records and the glory, but the low points and the miseries of a footballing life that many people now believe somewhere, somehow went wrong. Brilliance and controversy have stalked Robbie Fowler from his five goal performance in only his second full game for Liverpool, to his snorting of the touchline in the Merseyside derby. In this utterly compelling autobiography, Robbie Fowler looks back on what was, what wasn't and what might have been. This is the story of one of the game's true icons, and the story of the modern game itself.

The Last British Bullfighter tells the astonishing story of Frank Evans, the only recognised British matador. The son of a Salford butcher, Frank Evans' dream began after he'd saved enough money to attend a wedding in Spain. He was so entranced by life there that he remained, earning a living as a waiter before finally getting his first chance to enter the arena in 1966 as a rookie matador in the closed world of Franco's Spain. Frank went on to gain the widespread admiration of his fellow matadors, critics and audiences, who nicknamed him 'El Ingles'. After four decades of blood, guts, passion and artistry (not to mention foot-long welts and a perforated buttock), he was forced to retire in 2005 with a shot knee and a failing heart. But retirement didn't suit Evans, despite being a successful businessman away from the ring, and so after a quadruple bypass and reconstructive knee surgery, he again donned his cape at the age of 65 and, incredibly, stepped back into the ring. He has vowed to stay there until he can no longer lift the sword. Evans has lived a colourful life in and out of the arena. The Last British Bullfighter is a fascinating insight into the sport, with its ritual, drama, protocol and politics, but it is also the story of a likely lad from Salford who ran away to fulfil a dream - a dream he is still living four decades later.

Dwight Yorke has been one of the most successful and prolific goalscorers in the Premier League's history over the past decade. He was known first at Aston Villa and then Manchester United for his permanent smile, smoothness and flair - and for making headlines both on and off the pitch. He was a key member of Manchester United's treble-winning 1999 season and formed a deadly strike parterships with Andy Cole. His subsequent clubs have been Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland.Yorke came to be seen as the epitome of a young, successful, rich lifestyle, and he makes no apology for doing what a lot of young, single men would have done with sporting prowess, adulation and money. But it was his relationship with Katie Price (Jordan) among others which propelled him onto the gossip pages. He's the father of their son Harvey, and he talks for the first time about the hurt of being branded a bad dad who didn't care.Having never spoken out before, Dwight, nearing retirement, wants to tell his side, and from the heart. It's the story of a boy who followed his football dreams from Tobago's white beaches to England's lush stadia and who, having been given a miraculous second chance to live aged two, risked losing everything he held dear. This is his fascinating story.

Indian prince, Sussex and England cricketer, K.S. Ranjitsinhji was unique in many ways. W.G. Grace predicted that there would not be another batsman like 'Ranji' for a hundred years; arguably we are still waiting. His prodigious run-scoring ability alone assured his place in the annals of cricket, but his talents transcended statistics. His batting married subtlety and strength in a way that was quite new to the game, and he was a 'character' and crowd-pleaser from his century-making test debut in 1896 to his withdrawal from cricket in 1907 after he was installed as Jam Saheb of Nawanagar. 'A splendid memorial... In Alan Ross, Ranji is perfectly matched with one of the best writers the game ever attracted.' Guardian'A gem of a book.' Yorkshire Post

'This is a fan's eye-view of Paul Gascoigne - and fans, as we know, are expert at reassembling dashed hopes...'In 1987 Ian Hamilton - acclaimed poet, biographer and Tottenham fan - was smitten from afar by the impish skills of Newcastle United's Paul Gascoigne. When 'Gazza' duly signed for Spurs, Hamilton was sure that he and English football had found their new hero. But Gascoigne was destined to be brought low by tragic flaws, and Hamilton was ideally positioned to tell the tale in this, a peerless piece of football literature.'By the final whistle Hamilton has sketched a compelling figure: reckless, cocky, twitchy, hyperactive and half bonkers... but with flashes of implausible grace that connect with the dreams of his audience.' Independent

In looking over my life, it’s interesting to realize how often some luck has been involved. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area led to learning to love the Pacific Ocean and to getting to attend Sequoia High School in Redwood City, a school that I later realized had prepared me for winning National Championships, and medals in two Olympics. Our family’s move to Montana led to lots of great hunting and fishing with brother Danny, and attending the University of Montana led to Danny, brother Jerry and I all being smoke jumpers for the U.S. Forest Service. That work also prepared Jerry for successful years with the CIA in Laos and Thailand, work that earned him three CIA medals of honor. Brother Kent was Montana State Trap-shooting champ and State champ in high school wrestling. My 4 years of military service sent me to Korea where I learned about the sport of modern pentathlon, and which also sent me to a year of study in a great Sport Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.  Next came graduate studies at the universities of Oklahoma and Wisconsin, which also led to many outstanding years of research in exercise physiology and how to be a successful running coach.  Coaching years found me starting men’s track and cross-country at Oklahoma City University, National Track Coach in the country of Peru, and women’s track and cross-country coach at University of Texas.  Then 6 years of research with Nike, followed by 19 years coaching runners at the State University of New York in Cortland to numerous national titles. I also began coaching post-collegiate runners, several of whom competed in Olympic Games, including a Silver-Medal winner in women’s marathon. However, all of these accomplishments all take second place to my marriage to Nancy Jo Scardina, who was first a great runner (Olympic Trials qualifier in the totally-different events of 1500 and marathon), then was my Assistant Coach for 25 years during which she also became the mother of our two wonderful daughters, Audra Marie and Sarah Tupper. Sarah is an opera singer in New York City and Audra a very dedicated worker at the University of Washington in Seattle.  Nancy has become a Registered Nurse and is as dedicated to that profession as she was to her running career. I always envy those for whom she provides aid. Few people have had the luck I have had. God bless Nancy Jo, Audra Marie and Sarah Tupper.

Eddie Cicotte, who pitched in the American League from 1905 to 1920, was one of the tragic figures of baseball. He won 29 games in 1919 and led the Chicago White Sox to the pennant but is best known today not as a great pitcher but as one of the ""Eight Men Out"". This is the first full-length biography of Cicotte.

The Man-eaters of Tsavo is a book written by John Henry Patterson in 1907 that recounts his experiences while overseeing the construction of a railroad bridge in what would become Kenya. It is titled after a pair of lions which killed his workers, and which he eventually killed. Following the death of the lions, the book tells of the bridge's completion in spite of additional challenges (such as a fierce flood) as well as many stories concerning local wildlife (including other lions), local tribes, the discovery of the maneaters' cave, and various hunting expeditions. An appendix contains advice to sportsmen visiting British East Africa. Several publications about and studies of the man-eating lions of Tsavo have been inspired by Patterson's account. The book has been adapted to film three times: a monochrome, British film of the 1950s, a 1952 3-D film titled Bwana Devil, and a 1996 color version called The Ghost and the Darkness, where Val Kilmer played the daring engineer who hunts down the lions of Tsavo. Colonel John Patterson is to build a bridge in East Africa (later Kenya). While he is working on this, two man-eating lions show up. They will stop at nothing for a bite of human flesh and the first attempts to stalk, capture or keep them out of the camp fail. They attack the camp hospital and kill a patient. Even after the hospital is moved, one lion penetrates the thick, thorn fence called a boma built to protect it and drags the water carrier away to his death. In the course of hunting these lions, Patterson encounters a red spitting cobra, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, a pack of wild dogs, a wildebeest that faked dying, and a herd of zebra, of which he captured six. He also shoots a new type of antelope, T. oryx pattersonianus. Eventually, the first lion is defeated by baiting it with a tethered donkey while Patterson keeps watch from an elevated stand - though for a few tense moments Patterson himself becomes the hunted. Patterson and Mahina hunt the second lion on the plains. When they find and shoot it, the lion charges them and it takes repeated shots to bring it down. The lions are not the only challenge to completing the bridge project. Tensions between native workers and Sikhs brought in from British East India to work on the project (coolies) threaten to stop the project. At one point, Patterson meets a danger far greater than the lions - a fierce flood. It wipes out the supply bridges and wraps iron girders around tree trunks like wire. Uprooted tree trunks act like battering rams trying to annihilate the bridge. But the well-built bridge stays intact. This challenge proves that the year spent working on the bridge has not been wasted. After Patterson completes the bridge, he learns that a lion has been trying to destroy the train station. When he goes to see, he finds big bloodstains where the lion was trying to slash the roof.

Pete Marvich might not have been the greatest basketball player of his generation, but he was unquestionably the most exciting and entertaining. A magician at handling or shooting the ball and the most prolific scorer in college basketball history, Pistol Pete"" was as recognizable as he was flashy. If the mop of brown hair and floppy gray socks didn't give him away, the behind-the-back dribbling and between the-legs passes did. Maravich first captured the nation's attention while playing basketball for his father at Louisiana State University, averaging an incredible 44.2 points per game over three years and earning college player-of-the-year honors in 1970. He went on to play for ten years in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, New, Orleans Jazz, and Boston Celtics, garnering NBA First Team honors twice and Second Team honors two other times. In 1976-77 he led the league in scoring with an average of 31.1 points, including a 68-point outburst in a game against the New York Knicks. ""Pistol Pete"" was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Less than a year later, at the age of 40, he collapsed while playing basketball with friends and died an hour later. While he has been gone for more than fifteen years, his on-court showmanship and of-court charisma endure for millions of basketball fans who fondly remember him. In ""Pete Maravich: Magician of the Hardwood, players, coaches, friends, fans, and relatives recall the soft-spoken man who turned away from heavy drinking and turned toward God. Maravich's life is an inspiration for all who love the game of basketball and appreciate the contributions made by one of the best ever to play it.""

Many biographies have been written about the larger-than-life college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant as well as an autobiography containing the coaches own memories. Other works have focused on an aspect of Bryant''s career, his coaching methods, or his philosophy. The Bear: The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant stands alone among them all.Based on a screenplay by the late sportswriter and columnist Al Browning, it showcases many of the most memorable moments of Bryant''s life-many of them told by the coach himself-as stories filled with the immediacy and drama that go with a good story told well. The relationship Bryant and Browning shared went beyond that of coach and journalist. They were close friends, giving Browning a unique view of the man that few people had ever seen, especially in Bryant''s final years before his retirement and death a short while later.Some of the stories in this book have been heard before, but without the rich background and detail conveyed here. As such, the book validates many of them while clarifying others and occasionally correcting some inaccuracies."I just have a taken for finding the heart of a football team," Bryant once explained, and it was certainly true. It is equally true that All Browning found the heart of Bryant, and The Bear: The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant has captured the essence of the man from Fordyce, Arkansas, for whom winning was no just the most important thing. It was the only thing.

The legendary Red Sox outfielder is remembered through dozens of anecdotes, stories, and insights from former teammates, friends, associates, baseball officials, and fishing buddies.

College basketball and its annual March Madness extravaganza have emerged over the last three decades as one of the most popular sporting phenomena in America. Perhaps no one personifies the excitement of this tournament better than Jim Valvano, whose heavily underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack achieved the pinnacle of success in college basketball in 1983 with an unlikely run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an incredible one-point victory over Houston's heavily favored Phi Slamma Jamma squad in the championship game.While that Cinderella story was Valvano's only national championship, he quickly came to symbolize the exuberance and excellence of the exciting world of college basketball. Valvano transcended his sport, touching millions as he emerged as one of the most charismatic and, ultimately, courageous figures in American life who touched millions.Diagnosed with bone cancer, he joined ESPN to comment on college basketball games. Later he received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at ESPN's first ESPY Awards, where he announced that he was starting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Shortly after receiving the award, he died at the age of forty-seven. In I Remember Jim Valvano, he is remembered by former players, fellow coaches, a variety of other basketball experts, close associates, and many others as one of college basketball's great movers and shakers, a man with a heart as big as his popularity. Valvano's life is the classic story of courage and determination as borne out in his memorable line: Don't give up. Don't ever give up"".""

This profile of tennis legend and activist Arthur Ashe, who succumbed to the AIDS virus in 1993, includes recollections from his peers, friends, family, and many others close to him, of a champion whose legacy remains alive today. Illustrations.

Disrupted Ambitions: The Power of Prayer, is the true story of a promising young athlete whose high school dream of competing in the State Championship Wrestling Tournament is all but shattered when, at the age of sixteen, he develops life-threatening bleeding ulcers. With his strong will to live-and the incredible faith and hope of his parents, a very special football coach, a talented and caring doctor and the many prayers from family, friends and complete strangers-the young man survives the grueling operation that would save his life. Still, determined to accomplish his high school dream, and not realizing the risks involved, he quietly and secretly begins the torturous and sometimes disappointing journey of trying to return to the same physical condition that he possessed before his medical problems began. This inspirational and emotion-filled book is meant not only to bring awareness to the symptoms and potential seriousness of ulcers, but to remind young athletes to listen to their body when it tries to warn them of impending danger to their health. It also provides one clear and distinct message to all: "Never give up your dream!"

*****Short-listed for the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award 2020*****In Coaching Kasparov, Year by Year and Move by Move Garry Kasparov''s long-term coach, second and mentor Alexander Nikitin tells the story of how he trained Kasparov from a brilliant but raw junior into becoming and then remaining the world champion. Volume II, the present work, covers the period 1982-1990, including the first four world championship matches against Karpov and the candidates matches against Smyslov, Korchnoi and Beliavsky.The present volume contains 39 fully annotated games. These include 20 secret training games that Kasparov played against his grandmaster coaches Evgeny Vladimirov and Gennady Timoshchenko in 1982-83 that have never before been published and which are annotated by Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco, national coach of the German Chess Federation and captain of the German national team. These games are provided by the Kasparov family specially for the 2020 edition of this book. The reader has a unique opportunity to gain an insight into Kasparov''s secret preparation in those years, which were a new starting point in his career: he had to adjust his openings. Rogozenco is a big expert on Kasparov''s games, having helped FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov prepare for his planned match against Kasparov in 2003.Kasparov''s legendary opening repertoire, which was to define trends in chess theory for decades, was created not just through deep analysis, but also via training games. The never previously published material in this book consists of 16 games with classical time control and 4 rapid thematic games. Testing the Catalan for the first time with white, searching for ideas in the King''s Indian with black, preparing the Queen''s Gambit with both colors, playing typical Sicilian positions and trying new openings (for instance the Tarrasch as the big surprise for his candidates match versus Beliavsky) - all this can be found in these games.Further, the time records on most of Kasparov''s original scoresheets (all of them pictured in this book) show that Kasparov and his coaches paid serious attention to such an important training aspect as the distribution of time during the game.From intuitive positional sacrifices to precisely calculated combinations and instructive play in typical pawn structures - the training games provide a lot of interesting material for both players and coaches.The other games, annotated by Nikitin, are well known, but Nikitin explains many of Kasparov''s decisions in those games from the point of view of the world champion''s coach, providing the context of his pupil''s thought process and mistakes and tracing his progress as they together gradually out-thought Korchnoi and then Karpov. He also uses these games to illustrate and expand upon his coaching advice. His many insights include the preparation of the "cross-fire" strategy (playing the same opening against the same opponent with both colors) and a systematic approach to maintaining time discipline during games based on chronometric analysis. This makes his commentary quite unique and instructive, of formidable practical use to budding players, coaches and parents.

"One of the most accomplished, physically challenged athletes in the world." -Sports Illustrated"Roger Crawford is an inspiration to me." -Dr. Wayne DyerHow do you become an award-winning, Division 1 college athlete despite a disability affecting all four limbs? The answer has inspired countless people throughout the world. Roger Crawf

Ivan Bukavshin, born in Rostov-on-Don in 1995, was a Russian chess prodigy. He was European U12, U14 and U16 champion and placed third in the world U16 championships among many other successes, gaining the grandmaster title at just 16 years of age. Ivan finished third in the Aeroflot Open in 2015, behind Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi, where he put in a performance rating of 2803. Ivan achieved a series of 2700+ performances over 2013-2015. He tragically died in early 2016 at the age of 20.This book, by his friend and coach Grandmaster Jakov Geller, takes a detailed look at Ivan’s life and career in 50 deeply annotated games and 14 fragments. Apart from Jakov, 20 other guest grandmasters annotate games in this book, including super GMs Dubov, Alexander Morozevich, Vladislav Artemiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxim Matlakov, and Evgeny Alekseev. The list of Ivan’s opponents in these games includes Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Vladimir Fedoseev, Ernesto Inkariev, Richard Rapport, and Dmitry Andreikin.The author, Jakov Geller, born in Moscow in 1986, achieved the grandmaster title in 2011. His coaches included grandmasters Jakob Meister and Marat Makarov. Jakov worked as a coach in Togliatti from 2007 to 2015, and his pupils have included grandmasters Ivan Bukavshin and Alexandr Predke, international masters Darsen Sanzhaev, Alexey Mokshanov and Rudik Makarian, and WIM Dinara Dordzhieva. The Russian team that Jakov coached in 2009 took first place in the U16 Olympiad. He was named Children’s Trainer of the Year in 2010 by the Russian Chess Federation. Jakov has won prizes in over 20 Russian and international tournaments and he has written frequently for Russian and international chess publications, including American Chess Magazine, Chess Informant and 64. Jakov has lived in Moscow since 2016. This is his first chess book.This book will be of interest to active chess players seeking to improve their game, where they can learn from interesting opening novelties, spectacular attacking combinations and subtle endgame victories.

FRENCH EDITION. When the Olympic dreams of Paul Asmuth are shattered, God opens the door of new opportunities in the sport of marathon swimming. Relying on his passion, faith, and grit for both triumphs and tragedy, this is a story that transcends sport. By listening to the voice of truth and not of fear, new dreams are born, and God's plans are revealed.

A man’s love for his wife and his tribute to her life is the basis for “Answering The Call: Teaching Life Lessons Through Volleyball.” The Vicki Samarin story is one about living life to the fullest.Tim and Vicki Samarin met when they were very young, though a three-year difference in age prevented anything more than a casual friendship. But when Tim was in college, and he enlisted the help of Vicki’s family to find an apartment near the campus, he reconnected with this lovely young lady and a life-long love affair began.It wasn’t always a smooth road. In fact, there were more curves in that road than on fabled Lombard Street in the nearby city of San Francisco. But their love for each other, fueled by their love for the Lord, allowed them to travel that road together.Vicki was a notable success in the coaching ranks of California high school volleyball. Often taking lesser-talented teams beyond her more-talented opposition, she led by example. She didn’t preach as much as she demonstrated. She lived out her faith and brought her teams along with her.She succumbed to a very rare form of cancer in spring 2017, but cancer didn’t win. Her impact in the communities of volleyball, coaching and several small towns of northern California, will live on for years. This book looks at her life, her impact and the sport she loved. It looks at how life is like a volleyball match and teaches us that there are many aspects to every point in every match.When you read “Answering The Call,” you will be inspired to become a better person and to live out your beliefs in a more tangible way. You will be entertained by a love story that seems like a corny movie script, except it’s real. And you will be challenged to make sure your story is one of answering the call to which you were chosen.

Not all women who are trapped in suffocating marriages grab a lifeline and pull themselves up, but not all women are Lindsey Jacobs. Worn to a nub of her former self, stripped of her self-confidence and esteem, she finally broke free from all that held her captive, only to face a life of now what? She was overwhelmed with unknowns. Her lifeline—her way back to herself and to all her potential—was through the one thing that had been her constant: running. Running led her to the world of extreme sports and eventually the Ironman—swimming, biking, and running in a contest that challenged her physical and emotional reserves but pulled her into her authentic, strong self.If you feel trapped by circumstances you didn’t design and think there’s no way out; if you’re an athlete and love sports; if you’re a runner or if you’re not, STRONGER will delight and inspire you to be your best and do your best.  

Autobiography of TT and Superbike motorcycle racer Michael Rutter.

Keane: Origins charts Keane's journey from an economically-ravaged Cork to a spectacular three-season spell under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest via a memorable stint on a government-funded training scheme and brief spell in the League of Ireland.

This biography of John Houlding, the principal figure in the creation of both Everton and Liverpool football clubs in the late nineteenth century, provides a comprehensive look into early professional football, breaking new ground by addressing the important role of football club ownership in the early history of the game.