Description
The Olympics’ Strangest Moments by Geoff Tibballs collects some of the most bizarre, controversial, unexpected and memorable incidents from the history of the modern Olympic Games. Covering the period from the first modern Games in Athens in 1896 through to the build-up to the London 2012 Olympics, Tibballs looks beyond the official records to the mishaps, controversies, unlikely triumphs and extraordinary characters that have formed part of the Olympic story.
Among the stories is that of Dorando Pietri, the Italian marathon runner who was helped across the finish line at the 1908 London Games and subsequently disqualified, and Eric “the Eel” Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea, whose determined swim at the 2000 Sydney Olympics made him an unlikely crowd favourite. The book brings together sporting disasters, remarkable perseverance, unusual competitors and incidents that show the less predictable side of the world’s biggest sporting event.
