Provides an overview of how the Olympics began in ancient Greece and a look at each day's festivities.

"Swimming is a long thread that connects the Olympic heroes of today with the real and mythic ones of the past across more than ten millennia--a recorded history that begins in a cave in the Egyptian desert and sweeps across athletes and poets, statesmen and emperors, humans and gods; across the whole human experience, the entire human story. Splash! weaves a 10,000-year-old tale that begins in a bone-dry cave in the remote southwest corner of Egypt,...

When Gluteus Maximus is chosen to represent Rome in the Olympic Games, the Gauls respond by sending Asterix, Obelix, and the poet Lovesix, who is in love with the Princess Irina, in a story based on the feature film that includes some information on how it was made.

Annie and Jack present information about ancient Greece and the athletic events known as the Olympic games that were held there.

Provides an account of the terrorist attacks against Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic games, profiling some of the individuals involved and exploring the political and historical reasons for the acts.

Recounts the story of the Olympics held in Berlin in 1936, and how the Nazis attempted to turn the games into a propaganda tool for their cause.

Author Maraniss weaves sports, politics, and history into a tour de force about the 1960 Olympics. Along with the unforgettable characters and dramatic contests, there was a deeper meaning to those days at the dawn of the sixties. Change was everywhere. Old-boy notions of Olympic amateurism were crumbling. Rome saw the first doping scandal, the first commercially televised Summer Games, the first athlete paid for wearing a certain brand. In the heat...

Athletics and politics collide in a critical event for Nazi Germany and the contemporary world. The Olympic festival was a crucial part of the Nazi regime's mobilization of power. The torch relay--that staple of Olympic pageantry--first opened the summer games in 1936 in Berlin. Proposed by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry, the relay was to carry the symbolism of a new Germany across its route through southeastern and central Europe. Soon after, the Wehrmacht...

Discusses the protest against racism by African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and the iconic photograph that captured the historic event.

Dick Francis, the bestselling master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing. The last place veteran horseman Randall Drew wanted to go was Moscow. But when his royal highness the prince asks a favor, one doesn't refuse. The Royal Family is worried about the prince's brother-in-law, who aims to make the Olympics. Unfortunately, a jealous Russian rider has sworn to kill him if he sets one hoof in Moscow. So,...