It's only a few weeks now until the 2008 Summer Olympics get underway in Beijing (August 8-24). To prepare for the upcoming excitement, I want to share with you a new book called Gold Medal for Weird by Kevin Sylvester.
Mr. Sylvester is a reporter and radio sports host who decided there have been enough books written about the super-athletes. He wanted to write a book about the other athletes- the clumsy, the goofy, and the cheaters. This book is full of funny short stories and silly little facts about the lesser known athletes and seldom told stories in Olympic history.
One of my favorite stories from the book tells about the strange competition of pistol dueling at the 1906 Athens Games. Rather than shooting at one another, the duelers shot at elegant dummies wearing frock coats and big bull's-eyes on their chests!
Another story tells of Speedskater Paul Enock who competed in the 1962 Olympics. Up until that time, speedskaters had competed in warn, heavy clothes. Mr. Enock decided to try skating in his wife's panty hose because they were lighter and smoother, and he broke the world record!
To read all of these stories and more, check out Gold Medal for the Weird!
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