New Stuff Tuesday – March 6, 2018

Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women

Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women
by Roseanne Montillo
GV1061.15 .R62 M66 2017
New Arrivals Island, 2nd floor

Since Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute barrier in the mile run, crossed the bar earlier this week, a track and field book seems in order for New Stuff Tuesday.

Although women first began competing in the Olympics in the 1900 Paris games, it wasn’t until 1928 that women began competing in athletics (track and field).

This narrative follows the earliest female icons of track and field in the United States. Although the cast includes well-known characters like Babe Didrikson, the story begins in the Chicago suburbs with a bubbly high school girl who was far more interested in school plays and socializing than in running – and her name isn’t likely to ring a bell.

If the end of the Winter Olympics has left you cold, this story will rekindle your Olympic flame. You can read all about the women track athletes at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and dream of Tokyo in 2020.

Not to spoil things, but after you read the book, you can watch Betty run her Olympic 100m race.

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