Are you caught up in the excitement of the 2024 Paris Olympics? On Tuesday, Simone Biles and Team USA gymnastics won gold in the team final! There are so many triumphs and tribulations to follow. So much excellence to admire in the athletes, whichever your favorite events may be.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France began on July 26 and continue through August 11. The games will feature 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries competing in 32 sports across 329 events. In keeping with the Greek ideal of balance between mind and body, we invite you to dip into the following popular books about the history, athletes, and the sports themselves. Perhaps reading can be an Olympic event someday!
This is the ultimate guide to sports and the perfect reference for the Paris Olympics in 2024 – an amazing year for sports.
CARISSA MOORE: HAWAII GOLD: A CELEBRATION OF SURFING by Carissa Moore, Tom Pohaku Stone, Don Vu (Rizzoli)
Hawaiian native Carissa Moore brought joy and pride to the islands when she won the first-ever, gold medal in surfing’s Olympic debut. Here she shares her story and her personal perspective, alongside contributions from many of her fellow Hawaiian surf legends, on what it means to be a surfer from Hawaii.
THE TENNIS COLLECTION: A HISTORY OF ICONIC PLAYERS, THEIR RACKETS, OUTFITS, AND EQUIPMENT by Gustavo Fernández, Rafael Nadal, Stan Smith, Mario Cavalla (Rizzoli)
The trailblazing champion of adaptive tennis, Gustavo Fernández, takes readers through his selection of one-of-a-kind tennis pieces from the world-class fashion museum in Santiago, Chile. Featuring original interviews with Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini, and Roger Federer, The Tennis Collection is organized by themes such as sportswear, which features pieces like Bill Tilden’s 1920s tennis sweater, to trendsetting tennis outfits worn by Virginia Wade, Chris Evert, Andre Agassi, Marcelo Rios, and Venus Williams; sections on rackets from eighteenth-century wooden rackets to Roger Federer’s 2006 “Ncode six-one tour 90” racket; as well as rare tennis accessories, artwork, and vintage tennis magazines. A rich survey the sports evolving style, fashion, and design, this volume is a must-have for lovers of the world of tennis.
The inspiration for the Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney
For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
Click here for the young readers edition.
Winner of the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Paragon Award and the Buck Dawson Authors Award
The feel-good underdog story of the first American swimmer to win Olympic gold, set against the turbulent rebirth of the modern Games, that “bring[s] to life an inspiring figure and illuminate[s] an overlooked chapter in America’s sports history” (The Wall Street Journal)
A bold look at the creative, controversial, and vibrant history of skateboarding, and the amazing skaters who continually reinvent it. The gorgeously designed book presents objects, artifacts, and photographs from the Smithsonian’s collections that exemplify the vitality and innovation of skate culture. Book chapters are organized chronologically by decade from the ’60s to present day, starting with 20th-century surfboards, moving through technological changes, the disappearance of skate parks, the rise of social media and collaborations, and ending with never-before-seen objects from the 2020 Summer Olympics, where skateboarding made its historic Olympic debut.
Colin Jost is covering the Olympics for NBC in Tahiti.
In these hilarious essays, the Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor learns how to take a beating.
From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump.
Berlin 1936 takes the reader through the sixteen days of the Olympiad, describing the events in the German capital through the eyes of a select cast of characters–Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, sportsmen and journalists, writers and socialites, nightclub owners and jazz musicians. While the events in the Olympic stadium, such as when an American tourist breaks through the security and manages to kiss Hitler, provide the focus and much of the drama, it also considers the lives of ordinary Berliners–the woman with a dark secret who steps in front of a train, the transsexual waiting for the Gestapo’s knock on the door, and the Jewish boy fearing for his future and hoping that Germany loses on the playing field.
FOR YOUNGER READERS
Packed with awe-inspiring facts, this hilariously informative guide will make readers laugh their sports socks off! From boxing to boccia, find out just what it takes to compete in every sport in the summer games. You’ll discover what makes each sport great — and not so great — as well as what skills and equipment you’ll need to start practicing like a pro!
Simone Biles was raised by her grandparents and had to overcome many hardships as a child. After trying gymnastics for the first time on a field trip from elementary school, Simone continued with the sport, working hard and reaching professional levels. She persisted in the field and went on to become the most decorated US gymnast of all time. Through it all, she inspired kids everywhere to follow their dreams. In this chapter book biography by NAACP Image Award-winning author and Coretta Scott King Honor recipient Kekla Magoon, readers learn about the amazing life of Simone Biles–and how she persisted.
Katie Ledecky began swimming competitively at age six after watching her mother and brother in the pool. By age fifteen, she was setting records and winning gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics. And with each year, Katie improved her skills and her times in the water! The Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris will be Katie’s fourth, and the world will be watching.
Find out how a mischievous boy became a phenomenal swimmer and the greatest Olympian of all time in this inspiring addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling Who Was? series!
From the New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside comes the inspirational true story of the birth of women’s Olympic basketball at the 1976 Summer Games and the ragtag team that put US women’s basketball on the map.
Triumphant, relatable, and totally true biographies tell the childhood stories of a diverse group of international athletes who have captured the world’s attention at the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, like Simone Biles, Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka, Tatyana McFadden, Yusra Mardini, and ten other incredible Olympians. Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, you’ll be inspired to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before!
Lucile “Ludy” Godbold was six feet tall and skinnier than a Carolina pine and an exceptional athlete. In her final year on the track team at Winthrop College in South Carolina, Ludy tried the shot put and she made that iron ball sail with her long, skinny arms. But when Ludy qualified for the first Women’s Olympics in 1922, Ludy had no money to go. Thanks to the help of her college and classmates, Ludy traveled to Paris and won the gold medal with more than a foot to spare. Hooray for Ludy!
For more on these and related titles visit the edelweiss collection: Paris Games Titles
