Olympic Collision – The Story of Mary Decker and Zola Budd
On August 1, 2016 | 0 Comments
Meet the Author
Kyle Keiderling is a freelance writer and the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed Shooting Star: The Bevo Francis Story, which as been optioned for a major motion picture and Heart of a Lion: The Life, Death and Legacy of Hank Gathers, which was named Best Sports Biography of 2011 by the International Book Awards Committee.
He is a member of the United Sates Basketball Writers Association and has contributed articles to Basketball Times and the Lincoln Library of Sports Champions.
Overview
Olympic Collision – The Story of Mary Decker and Zola Budd
It remains one of the most memorable moments in modern Olympic history. At the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, a raucous crowd of ninety thousand saw their favorite in the women’s 3,000-meter race, Mary Decker, go down. An audience of two billion around the world witnessed the mishap and listened to the instantaneous accusations against the suspected culprit, Zola Budd.
Just seventeen, the South African Budd had already been the target of a vicious and vocal campaign by the antiapartheid lobby after she transferred to the British team in order to compete at the games. Decker, at twenty-six, was America’s golden girl, ready to overcome years of bad luck and injuries to rightfully take the Olympic gold for which she had waited so long. With three laps to go, Decker and Budd’s feet became tangled. Decker went down and didn’t get up, wailing in primal agony as her gold medal hopes vanished. Decker’s stumbles continued in the race’s aftermath when she refused Budd’s apology and race officials found her, not Budd, at fault for the collision. Although both women found success after the Olympics, neither could escape the long shadow of the infamous event that forever changed both of their lives and defines them in popular culture to this day.
Olympic Collision follows Decker and Budd through their lives and careers, telling the story behind the controversy; the account that emerges is certain to revise the view Americans, in particular, have held since that fateful day in Los Angeles more than thirty years ago. Olympic Collision relives one of the most famous incidents in Olympic history, its legacy, and what has happened to both athletes since.
Editorial Reviews
1980s Sports Blog - Steven Pye
"Keiderling's book is a gem. . . . The lives and careers of Decker and Budd provide Keiderling with plenty of material, and he makes full use of this in a fantastic publication." - Steven Pye, 1980s Sports Blog
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Athletics Illustrated - Christopher Kelsall
"A highly entertaining page-turner and a must read" - Christopher Kelsall, Athletics Illustrated
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Guy Who Reviews Sports Books
"The stories of these two female runners and the one moment that will link the two of them together forever make for a great read." - Guy Who Reviews Sports Books
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Amby Burfoot
“Kyle Keiderling’s Olympic Collision brings together the incredible backstory, the race-day tension, and the post-event fallout in a compelling narrative.” - Amby Burfoot, Boston Marathon winner (1968), contributing editor to Runner’s World, and author of First Ladies of Running
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Marty LiquorI
“A fascinating look behind-the-scenes at one of sport’s most shocking incidents. A tale of greed, human nature, and how it affected two amazingly talented runners.” - Marty Liquori, ABC analyst for the 1984 Olympics and former number one in the world in mile and five-thousand-meter races
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Joan Hansen
“Kyle Keiderling has a style of writing that will leave you captivated. His book provides incredible depth beyond one historical Olympic moment.” - Joan Hansen, three-thousand-meter finalist in the 1984 Olympics
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Richard Mayer
“An immensely readable and elegantly written account of the lives and careers of two iconic women distance runners who will always be remembered for their dramatic collision at the Los Angeles Olympics. The penetrating insights it provides into the murky world of politics, illegal drug use, and money in track and field in the 1980s will be of interest well beyond just the running community.” -Richard Mayer, South African athletics writer and historian
Additional information
Weight |
1.8 lbs |
Dimensions |
1.50 × 6.10 × 9.10 in |