Books in History of Sports series

Jesse Owens’ gold-medal winning feats at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin struck a mighty propaganda blow against Adolf Hitler. The Nazi leader had planned to use the German games as a showcase of supposed Aryan superiority. Instead there was American black athlete Owens on the podium being photographed by Hitler’s personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. In addition, Owens would figure prominently in the groundbreaking film Olympia by Hitler’s favorite director Leni Riefenstahl. Photo and film captured Owens’ stunning success and revealed how wrong Hitler was in his beliefs.

This title focuses on the history of Gymnastics and gives information related to its origins, fun facts, and superstars like Simone Biles. This hi-lo title is complete with epic and colorful photographs, simple text, glossary, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Fly! is an imprint of Abdo Zoom, a division of ABDO.

The mighty Soviets were the favorites to win hockey gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics. But a team of U.S. college players had other ideas. The stunning upset of the Soviet hockey team by the young Americans has been called the greatest moment in international hockey. And to many people the victory was about much more than sports. Americans had gone through difficult times at home and abroad. Beating the best hockey team in the world―and its major Cold War rival―gave Americans a sense of pride. One iconic photo captured the impact of that “miraculous” historic event.

Through the years the game of hockey has expanded from its humble origins in Great Britain and France until it is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world. This book examines the history of the game and looks at some of its most exciting moments and individuals. Among others, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky share space with the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" when young American Olympians defeated the powerful Soviet Union squad.