Oztrack Athletics Bookshop
is pleased to offer the following titles, in conjuction with
amazon.gif (2147 bytes)

Prices are very competitive even after the change if necessary to Australian Dollars.

If you find any errors or have problems with this page please email Oztrack Athletic Bookstore.


Biographies & Inspirational Books

Florence Griffith Joyner : Track and Field Star
by April Koral

Florence Griffith Joyner



Koral covers various aspects of the American sprinter's life from birth until 1990, with greatest emphasis on the events leading up to her winning three gold medals in the 1988 Olympics. The presentation is well organized, to the point, and easy to read. This, and the fact that Joyner is an intriguing subject, combine to give the book wider appeal than most sports biographies. Joyner is a captivating character who simultaneously suggests fun, drive, hardship, and success on and off the track. (As an adolescent she was kicked out of a shopping mall when she refused to remove her pet boa constrictor from around her neck.) Even her athletic experiences have a quirky side, as when she was eliminated from the 1984 Olympic relay team by officials who judged her fingernails to be too long for safe baton-passing. From several sources, including Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press, the full-color photographs depict excitement, drama, glamour, and strength. Throughout, Koral evokes strong visual images that give the text a richness unusual in nonfiction written this simply and indirectly. Also, a few well-placed quotes from Joyner add texture. --Liza Bliss, formerly at Leominster Public Library, MA


Carl Lewis
by Steve Klots  Nathan I. Huggins (Editor)  Coretta Scott King, (1995)
Carl Lewis


Black-and-white photographs accompany a solid text that balances the excitement of Lewis's incredible track-and-field accomplishments with the press's criticism and Lewis's lessons in maturity. The focus remains on his youth, family, and career; not on his personal life.


The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
                     by Caroline Alexander, Frank Hurley (Photographer)
 
A reader from Belmont, CA , December 20, 1998
Unforgettable story of perseverance and leadership. The story of the Endurance is my favorite true-life adventure story. While the account countained in this book is relative light compared to others, the pictures are stunning and make the story that much more  incredible. As an interesting experiment, try reading one of the accounts of the journey that don't include the pictures first. Then pick up this book and compare how the scenary played out in your mind's eye to what it actually looked like.

South : A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
                     by Ernest Henry Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton
Soon after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, his Anglo-Irish rival, Sir Ernest Shackleton,  sought to top the feat by making his way from one end of Antarctica to the other on sledge. He set off with a crew of 28, including scientists and a movie cameraman, but the voyage turned disastrous when Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, became hopelessly stuck in pack  ice, throwing the men (and the dogs brought to pull the sledges) into a desperate battle for survival. South is Shackleton's own account--one of the critical sources for Alfred Lansing's bestseller Endurance--of what it was like to be "helpless intruders in a strange world," a vivid  narrative in which tales of Edwardian pluck are counterpointed with lyrical accounts of whales, penguins, and bizarre mirages. This story of a group of men who beat nearly impossible odds to escape death and  make their way home is one of the all-time great survival stories.
                     --Robert McNamara 

Endurance : Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
                     by Alfred Lansing
Amazon.com
 In the summer of 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set off aboard the Endurance bound for the South Atlantic. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed. For five months Shackleton and his crew survived on drifting ice packs in one of the most savage  regions of the world before they were finally able to set sail again in one of the ship's lifeboats. Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is a white-knuckle account of this astounding odyssey.

 Through the diaries of team members and interviews with survivors, Lansing reconstructs the months of terror and hardship the Endurance crew suffered. In October of 1915, there "were no helicopters, no Weasels, no Sno-Cats, no suitable planes. Thus their plight was naked and terrifying in its simplicity. If they were to get out--they had to get  themselves out." How Shackleton did indeed get them out without the  loss of a single life is at the heart of Lansing's magnificent true-life adventure tale. 

World Record Breakers in Track and Field by Gerald Lawson

Michael Johnson's sensational 200-meter performance in the '96 Olympics is shown on the cover of World Record Breakers in Track &  Field Athletics and is but one example of what men and women throughout the sport's history have been able to do. This book provides a complete and captivating look at the athletes who have set new world records in track and field. 350+ photos.
Running With the Legends: Training and Racing Insights from 21 Great Runners, by Michael Sandrock
This is a very entertaining book for athletes & coaches.

More than a collection of biographies, Running with the Legends provides the closest and most complete look at how running and runners have changed, from the great Emil Zatopek in the 1940s to the superlative Uta Pippog in the '90s. The all-star list includes Sebastian Coe, Bill Rodgers,Priscilla Welch, Steve Jones, Toshihiko Seko, Rosa Mota, Arturo Barrios, and many others. 67 illustrations.

Steve Scott the Miler: America's Legendary Runner Talks About His Triumphs and Trials,by Steve Scott, Mark Bloom
I purchased this book on holidays and could not put it down. Steve Scott describes his life as one of the best milers of all time.

Pre: The story of America's greatest running legend, Steve Prefontaine, by Tom Jordan. The classic biography.

Jesse Owens : An American Life  by William Joseph Baker
In 1936, Jesse Owens became the man who showed up Hitler and his ideas of racial superiority at the 1936 "Nazi Olympics" in Berlin. Back home in the US, he faced all the frustrations of a talented black man whose name alone was enough to make money -- for other people. This is a powerful biography of an athlete who never lost his dignity.
Athlete's Guide to Career Planning by Albert J. Petitpas (Editor), Delight Champagne, Judy Chartrand, Al Petitpas, Shane Murphy, Delight Chanmpagne

Here's a straight-shooting guide that shows athletes how to develop a "game plan" for life. The practical information and 46 easy-to-use worksheets will help athletes plan for a career during and after their sport. 14 illustrations.

Gail Devers (Overcoming the Odds)  by Bill Gutman

Carl Lewis: Legend Chaser, by Nathan Aaseng

Dan O'Brien: Overcoming the Odds, by Bill Gutman

Once A Runner, by John L. Parker. Great fiction.


Receive email when this page changes
Click Here
• Powered by Netmind •