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Rating: Summary: Gold medal book Review: Count 'em up, and you probably remember 15 or maybe 20 great Olympic moments. Bud Greenspan does readers, atheletes, and the Olympic Games by providing a moment-by-moment history of the games. There's Olga and Mark Spitz, but there's also moments from pre-televised Olympiads, and snapshots of people like Agnes Keleti, who missed the 1940 Olympics (cancelled due to war), was expelled from the Hungarian gymnastics club because she was Jewish, made the Hungarian team for the 1948 Olympics but spent it on crutches due to a torn ligament, and finally won gymnastics gold, silver and bronze in 1952 at Helsinki. There's the Japanese track teammates who, winning silver and bronze respectively, had their medals cut in half and resoldered to share the silver and bronze. There's the yachter who dropped out of second place to rescue a capsized competitor...this is a book of heroism, spirit and fascinating history. Sure, some great moments could be added...Torville & Dean's comeback, Kerry Stug's landing on a fractured foot, and where is Janet Linn? But reading about Joan Benoit breaking the women's marathon gender barrrier, and Wilma Rudolph breaking the color barrier...this is a great book for adults and kids.
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