Olympic Memoir

Legacy of the Mat is a collection of stories from the Athletic and Coaching careers of twin brothers Jim and Dave Hazewinkel, two-time Olympic wrestlers. For years they have shared these stories with family and friends, and now they share them with you. Listen to the inspiring stories of these athletes as they smuggle Bibles across the Iron Curtain, coach the West Point Cadets, and witness the 1972 Munich Massacre.

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."

On August 8, 2020, 40-year-old Stephanie Lincoln seemingly had the perfect life. She just had the wedding of her dreams, owned a successful business, and was traveling the country in an RV with her husband and 3 dogs. An innocent choice to go on a short hike in the Olympic National Forest became the catalyst for disaster. On that day, Stephanie officially became a missing person and the battle for her life ensued.

The name Eric Liddell is a familiar one to many, having gained much fame through the film Chariots of Fire. A Christian athlete and missionary, his passion for his Saviour could be seen throughout his life. From university days to internment at Weihsien POW Camp, John Keddie’s biography brings together a specialist understanding of both Liddell’s faith and sporting achievements to provide an engaging account of this normal man’s extraordinary life.

When billions poured into the neglected east London borough hosting the 2012 Olympics, a turf war broke out between crime families for control of a now valuable strip of land. Using violence, guile and corruption, one gangster, the Long Fella, emerged as a true untouchable. A team of local detectives made it their business to take him on until Scotland Yard threw them under the bus and the business of putting on 'the greatest show on earth' won the day.

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.

To achieve an Olympic gold is impressive; to be part of a couple doing this in the same sport is rare; to do it 10 times between you is unprecedented. Britain's most successful female and male Olympians give us the inside track on becoming a champion. Hear their take on how they became the best in the world while finding in each other the perfect partner.

In this powerful, open and honest memoir, Sonny Bill shares the triumphs and missteps of his extraordinary sporting life and reveals how faith and family have made him the man he is today. Sonny Bill Williams is a once in a generation athlete - a player with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. In his remarkable career, he has won World Cups with the All Blacks in 2011 and 2015 and helped the Kiwis reach the 2013 final of the rugby league equivalent.

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once-in-a-hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs.

Dreams Do Come True tells the inspirational story of one of Britain's golden girls from London 2012. Great Britain's finest woman rower had one final career target to achieve and, on 3 August 2012, on the water at Eton Dorney, she - and Anna Watkins - beat three other pairs to win the gold in the Women's Double Sculls at the London Olympics. After winning silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008, Katherine Grainger could finally call herself an Olympic champion.

In My Greek Drama, Gianna Angelopoulos - known in her home country simply as "Gianna" - has written a memoir that is as much about Greece's journey as her own. From her childhood in Crete, to law school in Thessaloniki, to Athens, where she overcame male-dominated legal and political cultures to help redefine public service in Greece, Gianna worked her way into becoming one of the most respected women in Greek public life.

Johnny Quinn shares his “wild dream” of playing in the NFL, being crushed after getting cut three times, losing $2.6 million in contracts, and blowing out his knee. At age 30, when most professional athletes are considered “over the hill”, Johnny was competing for Team USA in the sport of bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. We all experience failure at some level; Quinn equips us to embrace change, accept risks, and learn to push through barriers, to live life on purpose.

Cowboy Stuntman chronicles the life and achievements of this colorful Texan and Olympic gold medal winner who spent a half century as a Hollywood stuntman and actor, appearing in 10 John Wayne movies and doubling for a long list of actors as diverse as Robert Culp, Michael Landon, Steve Martin, Strother Martin, Robert Redford, and Roy Rogers.

A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity, and the ecstasy of peak physical performance. In stunning prose, Rebecca charts her career's ascent, her singular love of the water, and lays bare the pressures within her swimming world.

The story of an Olympic wrestler allegedly murdered by the wealthy heir to the Du Pont fortune, Blood Money takes listeners inside the bizarre world of a multi-millionaire, and lays bare the brutal shooting and tense police siege that riveted the nation.

Tom Daley captured the hearts of the nation with his unforgettable medal-winning performance in the London 2012 Olympics. At this year’s Games in Tokyo, he triumphed to win gold and became the most decorated British diver of all time. In this deeply personal book, Tom explores the experiences that have shaped him and the qualities to which he owes his contentment and success; from the resilience he developed competing at world-class level, to the courage he discovered while reclaiming the narrative around his sexuality, and the perspective that family life has brought him.

Leisel Jones is regarded as one of the greatest breaststrokers ever. At just 15 she won two silver medals at the Sydney Olympics and went on to win gold at Athens and Beijing. For the first time, Leisel candidly describes being thrust into the limelight so young and reveals the constant pressure she was under. Despite the highs of stardom, she suffered severe depression. Body Lengths is the inspiring story of an Australian sportsperson told with humour, optimism and style.

From three-time Olympian and Olympic champion Kyle Shewfelt, this is the inside story of his pursuit of gymnastics glory, his courageous comeback from two broken legs, and how the difference makers in his life guided him along the way.

This is the story of the most unlikely Olympic decathlete in history. Despite size and stature, Bryan Clay is the defending champion of the 2008 Olympic gold medal and winner of the 2004 Olympic silver medal in the decathlon. His journey is as inspiring as it is gritty, as troubled as it is triumphant. Far more than just a sports memoir, Redemption details the drudgery, devastation, and ultimate conversion that led Bryan to become a world champion. Through a remarkable series of events and devoted prayers of his mother, Bryan's life was turned around.

After winning Olympic medals for Britain in 1920, Harry Edward (1898-1973) decided to try his luck in America. The country he found was full of thrilling opportunity and pervasive racism. Immensely capable and energetic, Harry rubbed shoulders with kings and presidents, was influential in the revival of Black theatre during the Harlem Renaissance, and became a passionate humanitarian and advocate for child welfare.