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Customer Reviews (1)

Idiosyncratic, but very good, history of running
I highly recommend this book - it provides a good overview of the development of running.

However, this is an unusual and idiosyncratic book; if a specific topic interests the author, he writes a chapter about it.I would have liked to see more on the business of running after 1990 - more on shoe company economics and how elite runners make money and less on running gurus.The prose style is also very stilted at times, but this may be more a function of the translator.Still, well worth it. ... Read more

Product Description
The first triathlons were highly competitive but casual--in contrast to the major media events that many of the races are today. TRIATHLON takes a fascinating look at the evolution of the sport through essays, interviews, and photographs dating back to its very beginnings. 50 color and 200 b&w photos and illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An entertaininghistory for the insider
This appears to be the only publication, apart from Mike Plant's wonderful book Iron Will, that records the early years and development of triathlon. Both the text and the multitude of pictures (with very amusing captions) bring to life the events and colorful characters that shaped the sport. There are many personal (often very entertaining) anecdotes, some scraps of personal philosophy, and references to athletes and others whose names will likely be known to few people outside the sport. There is no attempt at a careful chronology, or thorough analysis of the development of the sport over time, and there is an inevitable emphasis on the Hawaii Ironman race. There is also little narrative thread; instead it is the kind of book one can haphazardly dip into for inspiration and entertainment. This book provides a highly idiosyncatic historical perspective on triathlon, which will certainly be enjoyed by experienced triathletes who have done or are contemplating doing an Ironman race. A thorough history of triathlon remains to be written, but it will likely be a lot less entertaining than this book is.

Engaging, funny book with great pictures
I picked this book up this weekend at the Columbia triathlon.Tinley was there, and was signing the book.I haven't read the whole thing yet, but so far it looks like a great history of this somewhat unusualpasstime.

Tinley has been there pretty much from the start, and hiscollection of anecdotes and photographs from many sources (Mike Plantespecially) tells the story very well.Tinley's writing has improved sincehis early days (some of the articles in "Finding the Wheel's Hub"are pretty tough to read), and, hey, he's Scott Tinley!If you're atriathlete, you should have this book on your shelf next to your traininglog.

Excellent book but poor proofreading.
This is an excellent book with one really annoying problem.The proofreading is some of the worst I have ever seen.Lots of misspellings and typos as well as poor grammar.I would love to give this book fivestars but it is so difficult to read that I cannot.Great pictures andTinley is simply an awesome guy.If you are at all into triathlon you musthave this book.Just be prepared for major typos. ... Read more

Product Description
This beautifully illustrated book is a celebration of the richheritage of women's gymnastics during the period 1966 to 1974, whenthe older gymnasts of former times gave way to a younger generationwhich brought with them a more dynamic approach to the sport.

First in a series of four volumes which will describe the history ofwomen's gymnastics through 1996 (the present time), Volume I contains82 color and 95 black and white photographs for a total of 177pictures.Volume I covers the Mexico and Munich Olympics and theWorld and European Championships of the period. There is also a briefmention of other lesser competitions.

Of equal importance are the biographies of the leading gymnasts. Thesewill enable gymnasts of today and tomorrow to know what went on in theminds of their famous forbears.

In addition, 82 routines are described as part of the narrative. Theseare illustrated by 84 diagrams taken from the official "Code ofPoints."For gymnasts, coaches, judges and anyone who answers"women's gymnastics" when asked, "what is your favorite sport?" thisis your book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

A Masterpiece
Last I checked, website Grips Etc was still selling new copies of this book for $35. So before you drop $240+ on a used copy, I suggest you investigate that avenue.

Not quite a coffee table volume, but more than a mere history, this is easily the most comprehensive, thoroughly illustrated, and ambitious history of the sport I've ever encountered. With its play-by-play of every major gymnastics event, it threatens to be TOO detailed. But who can really complain, especially when there's so much interesting stuff on offer (particularly the fascinating "where are they now" interviews with the legends of the sport)? And it's all printed on glossy white paper. Classy.

Book has some drawbacks. There isn't an index, which is a sin considering there's 400 pages of detailed text to sort through. The prose is frustratingly passive in tone and, at times, chaotically arranged (quoting paragraphs-long passages from other sources really breaks the flow). This robs the book significantly of dramatic power. The photography is good, but not breathtaking, and most of the images are relatively small, which might frustrate fans seeking something more, er, coffee-tably. In other words, this is a history for fans of 1966-1974 gymnastics only--which must be a very small audience indeed.

But that small audience will be hugely impressed. You realize how special this book is when you consider how most gymnastics history books today are just heavily authorized biographies, "inspirational" works that, quite honestly, are very dull (the only really good reads lately have been those that criticize the sport--at least there's *drama* when things go horribly wrong). It amazes me that there is a void that has yet to be filled for a great illustrated history of gymnastics (even the International Gymnastics Federation has failed to address that, preferring to put out coffee table photo books that are frustratingly devoid of detail--more propaganda works peppered with inspirational writing than real histories).

So, this book stands alone. There's never been anything like it--making the fact that the sequels seem fated never to materialize all the sadder. The thing really is (almost) worth $240. But go to Grips Etc. first for your $35 copy anyway. ;-)

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!
For all you fans of women's gymnastics, this is the book you have been waiting for! It leaves no stone unturned in the gymnastics happenings between 1966-1974. We see the descriptions, both in word and in Code of Points illustrations, of the routines performed by famous gymnasts such as Caslavska, Tourisheva, Rigby, Korbut, Zuchold, Janz, and many others. The pictures are terrific! So are the bio's.

This book takes you back to the glory days when women's gymnastics was performed by WOMEN, not by anorexic teenaged dwarves. In fact, it inspired me to resume gymnastics after an 18-year hiautus!

I got in touch recently with Mr. Simons, the author, to order Volume II, but it has not yet been released. Please do so immediately, sir!! So many people are waiting eagerly for it!

Absolutely Fabulous!!!
The most wonderful women's gymnastics book written.
I have been waiting for a long time for volume II, and that is the ONLY dissapointing thing about this book.Worth every cent.
Mr. Simons----please put out Volume II soon!!!!

A must for any gymnastics fan
It just does not get any better than this. This book is an absolute must for any gymnastics fan. I bought it as soon as it was published and do not understand why volume 2 is not yet available. I understand four volumes were originally planned. I really hope they will be out soon.

Women's Gymnastics a History: 1966 to 1974
For those who dispair that there are no books for the gymnastics fan written for an average age above 10, here is your book! I love the sport as a fan. Beyond back issues of gymnastics magazines, it is hard to find good information. This book is excellent! It describes in detail the competitions, routines, and competitors of its time. My only disappointment is that it ends in 1974, and I have yet to see Volume 2 hit the shelves. A great read! ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Gymnastic," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Gymnastic in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Gymnastic when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Gymnastic, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent
Excellent history of the Olympic movement and the Games, very well balanced.For an "Official" history, Miller states his views even when they are critical of the IOC, athletes or other individuals, and hits the highlights in a very well-written book.

Olympic book
Excellent text giving all the relavent information on the games todate. Especially caters for those interested in the statistics of it all and in neeed for a ready reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Worth the money
This book has some general history of Romanian gymnastics as well as the profiles of all members of the 96 olympic team as well as Presacan, Cacovean, Bican, and Dobrescu.The CD ROM has interviews in English ofeach of these athletes and coach Octavian Belu, as well as routines fromvarious stars of the past and present (1996).

A good overview book.
This book has a general history of Romania and Romanian Gymnastics. Then there are some facts about the 1996 Romanian National Team. The book comes with a CD Rom which has movies with lots of past routines from the 70's80's and 90's. This is definetly worth buying. ... Read more

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Surveys the history, rules, and great moments of gymnastics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good book,not enough about Alexei Nemov
I found this book most helpful about gymnastics,but there was notenough about the great Alexei Nemov. ... Read more

Product Description
Published with the support of the International Athletic Federation, this book tells the story of track and field athletics from 1860 to date. Each chapter covers a given period of time and recalls the facts and figures in their human, competitive and technical aspects, for both men and women. Track and field athletics is the most universally known and practised of all sports. Its modern forms began to emerge after the middle of the 19th Century in British and American clubs and colleges. Its current rules were forged for the most part around 1880 and accelerated with the revival of the Olympic Games (Athens 1896) and the foundation of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (Berlin 1913), which is still the world governing body of the sport. After World War II the development of athletics was gradually and increasingly affected by economic and political factors. While gaining in stature all over the world, the sport met new problems. Man as an athlete has become a sophisticated object, as a result of rational and severe conditioning methods, vastly increased technical knowledge and an ever-closer connection with sport medicine.Geographically track and field has expanded to cover virtually every corner of the globe. Women's athletics became a factor around 1920 and began to expand in the Fifties. ... Read more

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It all began in 1968, when prominent civil lawyer David Pain introduced and implemented the idea of age-group competition for track and field. What began as a special mile run soon expanded into North American, then world, meets. This is the first book-length account of how the Masters Track and Field program (for men over the age of 40 and women over 35) was started, how it developed nationally and internationally, and where it is headed in the future. Key pioneer promoters of the sport are profiled. In addition to covering how the movement grew and spread, the work reviews the effects of aging on performance and how the event standards and scoring were adjusted to accommodate aging. Current leaders discuss the most recent plans for the future of Masters Track and Field. ... Read more

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Provides an overview of gymnastics competition at the Olympics. ... Read more

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An overview of the events that make up the gymnastics portion of the Olympic Games, with highlights of great athletes and moments. ... Read more

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With the hottest gymnasts in the country flipping their way into the spotlight, the U.S. has the team to beat in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. After the USA’s six-medal performance in 2004, the 2008 team has a lot to live up to, but they’re up for the challenge! Get the inside scoop on one of the most popular summer Olympic sports with biographies on the gymnasts and information on the sport’s history, events, and competition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good for what it is
I am not in the target age range for this book, and so it does not hold the same appeal for me. But as a gymnastics fan - and seeing as I found it for a couple of dollars - I went ahead and bought the book anyway.

Written before the 2008 Olympics - and even before the Olympic team was selected - it is interesting to see the hopes and fears of the American gymnasts, and to see the speculation and predictions about the competition to come.

This book is really for the younger reader, and is suitable even for those with a limited knowledge of the sport as there is plenty of information for the uninitiated.
... Read more

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This book explores, analyses, and explains divergent ideologies and practices of gymnastics in selected European nations. It reconstructs the ex- and import processes from Europe to America and determines the processes, interrelationships and transformations of these "transatlantic movements" in their new home country. The book offers a more complete understanding of the role of gymnastics and expressive movements in cultural and ideological transmission over time and identifies the impact of these concepts on American physical education, sports systems and sports cultures.

The main focus of the book lies in the two decades before and after World War I. This concentration on a specific historical epoch allows us to identify parallel, but also different developments of the various forms of gymnastics and of the transfer and implementation processes.

The volume covers the transfer and impact of German Turnen, Czech Sokol and the Delsarte system in North America. In addition, it traces the influences of French gymnastics in South America and describes the tours of the world-renowned Danish gymnastic reformer Nils Bukh in both Americas. A focus will be the "import" of gymnastics, but also on the adaption processes of these different concepts and their integration into the American culture.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Product Description
Zarnowski, the world's foremost authority on the event, has written a colourful and comprehensive account of the decathlon. The book traces the heritage of the decathlon and includes the results of the 1988 Summer Games. The book also includes profiles of 22 of the greatest decathletes. ... Read more

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This work features the first international biography of Niels Bukh (1880-1950), the charismatic founder of the special Danish school of modern gymnastics. His team of young elite gymnasts travelled around the world demonstrating his gymnastics, and in Japan, his school is still attracting thousands of pupils. Bukh's private life and his fascination with the German Nazi party makes him a very controversial figure even fifty years after his death. It includes a DVD with 131 film clips in Danish, English, and Japanese. ... Read more