If the coming of the Tokyo Olympics has you in the mood to read about sports, I’ve got you covered today. I’ve paired books with some of the events you’ll be seeing over the next couple of weeks as the Tokyo Olympic Games airs. Did I miss your favorite event? Let me know in comments!
Gymnastics
Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles (2016). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook via Hoopla. Simone Biles is poised to lead the American women’s gymnastics team in this year’s Olympics, so what better time to check out her memoir. From her early childhood in foster care to winning multiple Olympic gold medals, this inspiring memoir will have you rooting for the GOAT even harder than you already were.
The End of the Perfect 10: The Making and Breaking of Gymnastics’ Top Score – From Nadia to Now by Dvora Meyers (2016). Also available on downloadable audiobook via Hoopla. Published on the 40th anniversary of Nadia Comaneci’s “Perfect 10”, this book looks at the evolution of gymnastics and how the change to an open-ended scoring system eliminated the possibility of a “perfect score” and opened the sport wide to innovation. If watching flips, vaults, and balance beam is your thing, this is the book for you.
Rowing
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown (2013). This stirring true story follows the underdog crew team from Washington University as they competed against the elite Ivy League crew teams at a sport reserved for the upper class. Even if you’ve never rowed a boat, this is a riveting account of grit and determination.
A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of American’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper (2020). Growing up on Chicago’s West side, Arshay Cooper had never heard of crew team until he saw a poster in his high school lunch room and decided to take a chance on a new sport. So begins the inspiring true story about a most unlikely band of brothers that form a family, and forever change a sport and their lives for the better.
Soccer
One Life by Megan Rapinoe (2020). In her memoir, the Olympic gold medalist describes her childhood in a conservative California town, her athletic achievements, and her public advocacy of civil rights and urgently needed social change. If you’re excited to root for the US women’s soccer team, check out this book to read Rapinoe’s story.
Swimming
Splash!: 10,000 Years of Swimming by Howard B. Means (2020). Unique and compelling, Splash! sweeps across the whole of humankind’s swimming history–and just like jumping into a pool on a hot summer’s day, it has fun along the way. If you’re tuning in for the swimming races, don’t miss this one.
Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui. Also available on digital audiobook and e-book via Hoopla (2020). Part memoir, part sports history, this book is a great choice for anyone who loved playing in the pool as a child or anyone who still loves to swim. In this book, Tsui weaves together stories of Olympic champions, an unbelievable Arctic shipwreck survivor, modern-day Japanese samurai swimmers and more. There’s a little something for everyone here, so if watching the 100-meter freestyle or swimming relay races is your jam, pick this one up.
Track & Field
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (2009). When author Christopher McDougall sustained a running injury and learned that something like 80% of runners have had running-related injuries, he figured that humans were not made to run. Until he found out about the Tarahumara Indians who live in remote villages in Mexico and run hundreds of miles for fun (and without injury). This book takes a close look at the running culture and especially ultra-marathons (races over 50 miles long). If you’re a runner or you’re fascinated with running (who does that for fun?!), check out this book.
Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America’s Stolen Land by Noé Álvarez. Also available on digital audiobook via Hoopla (2020). In this riveting memoir, the son of working class Mexican immigrants leaves his job in a fruit-packing plant to join a group of Native American runners on a movement called a Peace and Dignity Journey. The 6,000 mile run takes him from Canada to Guatemala, pushing him to the limits of his endurance and allowing him a view of the Americas he never thought to imagine. Here’s another great read for anyone interested in running and the human spirit.
