The work talks concerning the lives and achievements of 82 of the world’s most iconic and adorned Olympic stars.
Following up on his well-received ebook on India’s Olympic Medal Winners, Vijayan Bala has now come out with a successor, this time recounting the Olympic historical past and stars from throughout the globe.
Historical past and Stars of the World’s Best Sporting Occasion: From Athens 1896 to Paris 2024 talks concerning the lives and achievements of 82 of the world’s most iconic and adorned Olympic stars and consists of uncommon pictures, attention-grabbing anecdotes and a quick Olympic historical past.
“After the earlier ebook on Indian medallists, I assumed why ought to we prohibit ourselves to Indian sports activities? Why not go world and let the readers find out about a number of the biggest sportspersons and the way they overcame every kind of adversities? That’s how this newest ebook was considered and it took loads of analysis and brainstorming to resolve on the ultimate 82 names,” Bala mentioned on its launch on the New Delhi World E book Truthful.
Printed by Surprise Home Books, the ebook consists of a number of the better-known names like Nadia Comaneci and Carl Lewis however there are some little-known ones too, together with the likes of Karoly Takacs, the Hungarian 25m speedy hearth shooter who misplaced his proper hand to a grenade explosion however educated taking pictures along with his left for over a decade to win back-to-back golds on the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
Nonetheless, there is just one Indian on the record – Dhyan Chand – and the event had hockey legends Ajitpal Singh and Harbinder Singh to honour his presence.
“For me, the sport towards West Germany in 1968 in Mexico will at all times be particular because it was my Olympic debut and we had misplaced our first match to New Zealand. The evening earlier than I couldn’t sleep. The Germans had been highly effective however I managed the strain and it was the beginning of my Olympic journey,” Ajitpal reminisced.
Curiously, Harbinder listed the identical sport as certainly one of his favorite moments, scoring with a reverse flick from the highest of the circle.
Printed – February 04, 2025 06:56 pm IST
