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Sunday Times (London)
July 25, 2004, Sunday
Complete Book Of The Olympics
By David Wallechinsky, Aurum, £16.99
Looking for something to fill the 19 days before it all gets under
way in Athens? The new edition of David Wallechinsky's exhaustive
doorstopper amounts to 1,171 pages (that works out at almost 62 pages
per day) and covers every final ever run, jumped, thrown, swum, shot,
sailed, rowed or fought for in the modern Olympics. It is, by any
standards, remarkable.
Let it fall open at random. 1956, Melbourne: Albert Azaryan, a
blacksmith from Armenia who hadn't taken up gymnastics until he was
16, wins gold on the rings.
1952, Helsinki: Khashaba Jadhav wins India's first medal in an
individual event, taking a wrestling bronze. On his journey back to
his home village he is accompanied by 151 bullock carts. 1920,
Antwerp: Holland win archery gold and start singing their national
anthem, provoking the Belgium crowd into angry cries of
'Cheeseheads'.
You could go on. And on. And on.
The opening pages gallop through a brief history of the Games. It all
started, you know, with the ancient Greeks and a cook called
Koroibos, the first recorded Olympic champion. And how about Orsippus
-the risque Megaran defied convention and ran naked. He won, so soon
everybody had flung off their loincloths. In 1896 the modern Olympics
began. About 245 (fully clothed) competitors from 14 countries
assembled in Athens; 108 years later the Games return to the Greek
capital, and close to 11,000 men and women from more than 200 nations
will be there. No wonder this is such a large book. But it is not one
you can read from cover to cover, unless you're an Olympic obsessive;
it's best to dip in and out.
Before the lists of sporting achievements, the chapter on Issues,
which sprints through corruption, drugs, politics etc, is a valuable
inclusion. It is here that an element of the author shines through.
Wallechinsky was taken by his father, the author Irving Wallace, to
the Rome Games of 1960, and that sparked what has become his life's
passion. But he is no slave to the International Olympic Committee
(IOC). Wallechinsky makes the comparison between the treatment of
Tommy Smith and John Carlos after their Black Power salute in Mexico
in 1968 and those athletes - not just Germans -who gave the Nazi
salute in 1936. 'IOC members and other Olympic leaders...support the
ruling elites of the various nations of the world, no matter if they
are Communist or capitalist.'
In the IOC's eyes, it is okay, says Wallechinsky, to make a
'patriotic gesture which shows support for nationalism and the status
quo. It was not acceptable to the IOC to have Smith and Carlos show
support for what was deemed an unrecognised political entity
-African-Americans'
Robin Scott-Elliot Available at The Sunday Times Book First price of
Pounds 13.59 plus £2.25 p&p on 0870 1658 585
July 25, 2004, Sunday
Complete Book Of The Olympics
By David Wallechinsky, Aurum, £16.99
Looking for something to fill the 19 days before it all gets under
way in Athens? The new edition of David Wallechinsky's exhaustive
doorstopper amounts to 1,171 pages (that works out at almost 62 pages
per day) and covers every final ever run, jumped, thrown, swum, shot,
sailed, rowed or fought for in the modern Olympics. It is, by any
standards, remarkable.
Let it fall open at random. 1956, Melbourne: Albert Azaryan, a
blacksmith from Armenia who hadn't taken up gymnastics until he was
16, wins gold on the rings.
1952, Helsinki: Khashaba Jadhav wins India's first medal in an
individual event, taking a wrestling bronze. On his journey back to
his home village he is accompanied by 151 bullock carts. 1920,
Antwerp: Holland win archery gold and start singing their national
anthem, provoking the Belgium crowd into angry cries of
'Cheeseheads'.
You could go on. And on. And on.
The opening pages gallop through a brief history of the Games. It all
started, you know, with the ancient Greeks and a cook called
Koroibos, the first recorded Olympic champion. And how about Orsippus
-the risque Megaran defied convention and ran naked. He won, so soon
everybody had flung off their loincloths. In 1896 the modern Olympics
began. About 245 (fully clothed) competitors from 14 countries
assembled in Athens; 108 years later the Games return to the Greek
capital, and close to 11,000 men and women from more than 200 nations
will be there. No wonder this is such a large book. But it is not one
you can read from cover to cover, unless you're an Olympic obsessive;
it's best to dip in and out.
Before the lists of sporting achievements, the chapter on Issues,
which sprints through corruption, drugs, politics etc, is a valuable
inclusion. It is here that an element of the author shines through.
Wallechinsky was taken by his father, the author Irving Wallace, to
the Rome Games of 1960, and that sparked what has become his life's
passion. But he is no slave to the International Olympic Committee
(IOC). Wallechinsky makes the comparison between the treatment of
Tommy Smith and John Carlos after their Black Power salute in Mexico
in 1968 and those athletes - not just Germans -who gave the Nazi
salute in 1936. 'IOC members and other Olympic leaders...support the
ruling elites of the various nations of the world, no matter if they
are Communist or capitalist.'
In the IOC's eyes, it is okay, says Wallechinsky, to make a
'patriotic gesture which shows support for nationalism and the status
quo. It was not acceptable to the IOC to have Smith and Carlos show
support for what was deemed an unrecognised political entity
-African-Americans'
Robin Scott-Elliot Available at The Sunday Times Book First price of
Pounds 13.59 plus £2.25 p&p on 0870 1658 585