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Genre/Form: | Biographies Biography |
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Additional Physical Format: | Online version: Garcia, Jessie, 1970- Going for Wisconsin gold. Madison, WI : Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2016 (DLC) 2016022854 |
Material Type: | Biography |
Document Type: | Book |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Jessie Garcia |
ISBN: | 9780870207655 0870207652 |
OCLC Number: | 948339486 |
Description: | xiv, 288 pages ; 23 cm |
Responsibility: | Jessie Garcia. |
More information: |
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WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Wisconsin Olympians
I love the Olympics! Winter, Summer, the heroes, the tragic figures, those who win medals and others who just win hearts, I love them all! “Going For Wisconsin Gold” is the story of Olympians who were born, lived, trained or had some association with Wisconsin. The 22...
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I love the Olympics! Winter, Summer, the heroes, the tragic figures, those who win medals and others who just win hearts, I love them all! “Going For Wisconsin Gold” is the story of Olympians who were born, lived, trained or had some association with Wisconsin. The 22 biographies run from 7 to 22 pages with photos and sidebars featuring less known athletes. The subjects range from Alvin Kraenzlein who won four gold in athletics in 1900 through Matt Antoine who won a bronze in skeleton in 2014.
Through these tales readers will pick up a lot of Olympics trivia. Did you know that the Americans were surprised to find that, instead of having 12 to practice before the first Modern Games in 1896 they actually arrived the day before the start because they failed to account for the Julian calendar then in use in Greece? How about that Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the choice of St. Louis over Chicago to host the 1904 games? The 1908 Olympics lasted over six months and included the first pool, parade of nations and Athletes’ Creed. The 1916 Games were awarded to Berlin in hopes that they would help keep the peace. The Games were cancelled when the peace was shattered. The Olympic Village made its debut in 1932 in Los Angeles.
Those facts are interesting but the charm of this work is in the stars themselves. Some you probably never heard of such as Carleton Brosius, the Great War veteran who competed in Fencing and tug-of-war in 1920 in Antwerp after crossing on the Princess Matoika, still reeking of formaldehyde after returning fatalities to the States for burial. Others, such as Ralph Metcalf may be remembered, if at all, not for medals in the 1930s but his later service as a congressman. Then there are the stories of those we do remember.
Author Jessie Garcia reminds us of the dazzling ice skating siblings, Beth and Eric Heiden in 1976. The heartbreak of Dan Jansen who lost his focus when his sister died shortly before a race and had the ice give out beneath him in another event before striking gold. I enjoyed the saga of Bonnie Blair, a name I remembered for her 4 Olympics and 5 gold medals.
No story of the Olympics would be complete without the Miracle on Ice, contributed to in no small part by Mark Johnson and Bub Suter. It was inspiring to be reminded of how over matched this team was when it beat the might Soviet Team and made us all believe in Miracles.
Garcia has skillfully woven the Olympic glories into the stories behind the stories, the years of training, the switching of sports, disappointments and the return to normalcy. I was surprised to read of the many who became school teachers when their sports careers reached their ends.
I read “Going For Wisconsin Gold” during the Rio Olympics and enjoyed every minute of the Games and the book. I am looking forward to the next edition with added paragraphs for Ben Provisor and chapters new stars like Triathlon Gold Medalist Gwen Jorgensen and steeplechase Silver Medalist Evan Jager as the legend of Wisconsin Gold goes on.
I did get a free copy of this book to read and review.
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Related Subjects:(9)
- Olympic athletes -- United States -- Biography.
- Olympics -- Participation, American.
- Athletes -- Wisconsin -- Biography.
- HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
- SPORTS & RECREATION -- Olympics.
- Athletes.
- Olympic athletes.
- United States.
- Wisconsin.