Great Athletes

How do you pick Olympic GOATs? Is it gymnast Simone Biles or swimmer Michael Phelps? Or maybe it’s the entire 1992 basketball team. With so many sports, how do you choose? It comes down to stats, history, and hunches.

Tia Toomey, the world's fittest woman, has won the CrossFit Games an incredible six years in a row and is undeniably a true warrior. She has also trained for the Winter Olympics in bobsledding, competed in the Summer Olympics in weightlifting and was a Commonwealth Games gold medalist. She is, in short, one of the most accomplished and dominant athletes in human history. But for Tia physical fitness is only a small part of overall strength. More important is building mental toughness. In The Heart Is the Strongest Muscle, Tia shows how she reached elite levels by focusing on her "why."

Canada's first Olympic gold medallist couldn't walk until he was ten, and became the greatest runner of his generation. Who was the first Canadian to Win an Olympic Gold Medal? When Mark Hebscher was asked this simple trivia question, he had no idea that it would lead him on a two year odyssey, researching a man he had never heard of. Paralyzed as a child and told he would never walk again, George Washington Orton persevered, eventually becoming the greatest distance runner of his generation, a world-class hockey player, and a brilliant scholar.

After numerous beloved and best-selling sports books, John Feinstein returns to the subjects of his first 10 books, crafting a narrative of the most revealing encounters he's had. These are the coaches and athletes who know their games the best, and the legends and legendary moments that gave inherent shape to our favorite pastimes.

“A poignant, heartbreaking and powerful story, a chance for each of us to find a way to level up, contribute and do things we never thought possible.” —Seth Godin (Author, The Song of Significance, and delighted Cruzbike rider) When she was nine years old, her gym teacher gave a fitting nickname to a slow and uncoordinated little girl: jelly bean. In this candid and uplifting memoir, ultra athlete Maria Parker chronicles her swanlike transformation from unathletic jelly bean to elite endurance cyclist. Parker also examines the connection between the unchosen suffering of losing her ...

Desta never imagined such a heart-wrenching loss and journey into a strange land and an obscure future. An old compass and wooden rod had turned Desta's life upside down and propelled him into the unknown. Desta is an Ethiopian student prophesied to earn a modern education and find a missing ancient Coin of Magic and Fortune. After high school, he was set to study medicine in Bulgaria and search for the shekel. But at the last minute, his devices directed him to follow the sun west to pursue his goals. A friend hastily finds him a college and a benefactor for a year, and Desta travels ...

In The I of the Tiger, retired athlete and sports researcher Kimberly Carducci analyzes the psychology behind forming an athlete identity and its impact on mental health in today’s sports world. With a basis of who we are as athletes, Carducci guides listeners through the toughest moments athletes face along their journey (defeat, injury, retirement), and how to get through them. In this timely audiobook, Carducci demonstrates how ignoring athlete’s emotional struggle in modern competition is a harmful, outdated approach to sport.

Moneyball showed how statistics were revolutionizing baseball. The Sports Gene revealed the role genetics play in sports. Now, Head in the Game examines the next evolution: how mental engineering - the manipulation of the cognitive processes of the brain - can make gifted athletes even better.

What does a nine-year-old baseball fan do when his team and favorite player move 3,000 miles away? He calls up his hero. He tries to talk to Willie Mays. In this real-life story of loss and loyalty, Paul Kocak spins tales from baseball's golden age. With baseball as a backdrop, the author recounts growing up in the Fifties, coming of age in the Sixties, and finding unlikely redemption at long last in the 21st century. Readers follow the author through a tragic drowning, marriage and divorce, alcoholism, and long-term sobriety. Along the way, there's always Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid. They...

Quand il est question de performance de haut niveau, l'athlète olympique doit avoir confiance en ses moyens, savoir gérer la pression et rester concentré malgré les multiples distractions. C'est la même chose au bureau: le travailleur qui souhaite réussir est appelé à se surpasser pour répondre efficacement aux défis quotidiens.

Young minds are constantly seeking direction and inspiration. But in today’s environment full of distractions, it’s not easy to find the right resource for what kids really need. That’s why this book is so timely. This book understands the hurdles kids face – the need for role models, the struggle with challenges, and the desire for meaningful connections. It’s the solution you’ve been looking for: a collection of 15 awe-inspiring stories from basketball legends, each a testament to overcoming adversity and achieving greatness.

Drew Brees grew up in a family of athletes and overcame injuries and setbacks to become one of today's best quarterbacks. This comprehensive biography shows how Drew Brees went from being a flag football player to Super Bowl MVP and modern legend and is sure to appeal to legions of football fans.

A Christian self-help guide to improving one’s life through the combination of anecdotes, Bible verses, and two of the greatest and most cherished pastimes—music and sports. Summary: Whether you are strong in your Faith or you are lost and hope to find your way back, there is no one better to have on your team than Jesus Christ—and he is always willing to join your team! The Greatest Teammate details how you can improve your life and how to restore and enhance your connection with God. David L. Angeron, author of The Mental Training Guide for Elite Athletes, incorporates his love and ...

Unlock the Champion’s Mindset and Dominate Life. Do you want unshakable confidence, unstoppable willpower, and the mindset of a true warrior? Are you ready to conquer setbacks, embrace stoicism, and build the mental toughness of an elite athlete, alpha male, or sigma male? If so, this book is your blueprint to forge mental resilience, develop unbreakable self-discipline, and unleash your full potential. Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, or anyone striving for peak performance, this guide will transform you into a powerful, unstoppable force.

Men's hockey in Canada may hog the limelight, but interest in women's hockey has never been higher. The Role I Played is a memoir of Sami Jo Small's 10 years with Canada's National Women's Hockey Team. Beginning with her experience as a rookie at the first-ever women's Olympic hockey tournament in Nagano in 1998 and culminating with Canada's third straight Olympic gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, the veteran goaltender gives the listener behind-the-scenes insight into one of the most successful teams in sports history.

Each November, about a hundred people with paper poppies pinned to their coats gather around a memorial in Edinburgh. They're there to commemorate the more than a dozen members of the local football team, Heart of Midlothian - almost every member of its starting lineup and many of its backup players - who went to war. A Bigger Field Awaits Us tells the little-known but poignant story of a group of Scottish athletes and their fans who went to war together - and the stories of the few who made it home.