Famous athletes are often celebrated for their elite talents and their seemingly innate predisposition to be a “winner.” Less widely acknowledged, however, is what it took for these individual athletes to climb to the top—the sacrifices made, the barriers faced, the sheer determination to keep going, even in the face of hopelessness.
Beyond the grit it takes to succeed, there’s also a story to be told about the disorientation many athletes face after achieving the goals they’ve spent their lives working towards.
These biographies work to represent professional athletes—from decorated quarterbacks, runners, bobsledders, and beyond—as humans with unique trials and tribulations, rather than as their sports legend persona.
No matter which sports you take interest in, these nine sports biographies will entrance you, offering intimate insights into the stories of strength that have fueled some of the greatest athletes in history.
The Perfect Mile
New York Times-bestselling author Neal Bascomb offers a captivating window into the true story of the three athletes who made history, becoming the first runners to break the four-minute mile.
In 1952, Roger Bannister, John Landy, and Wes Santee set out on a collective quest that spanned continents and defied all odds. The three runners came from different countries—Roger from England, John from Australia, Wes from the United States—but their determination to do the never-before-done gained international attention amidst a chaotic world climate.
The Perfect Mile is a bestselling tale of unlikely champions and a powerful portrait of the golden age of sports.
Sam Quek
Celebrated for her starring role in the 2016 Olympic gold medal winning hockey team, Sam Quek recounts her turbulent rise to the top, from her challenging childhood through her years of being overlooked as an athlete.
In this articulate autobiography, Quek also offers her powerful perspective on the portrayal of women in sports, detailing the impact that coaches and the media often have on female athletes, both personally and professionally.
Sam Quek: Hope and a Hockey Stick offers readers an intimate look into what it takes to win an Olympic gold medal, as well as the ways an athlete’s life changes after receiving such an honored achievement.
The Boys of Winter
In this mesmerizing true story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team and the Miracle on Ice, Wayne Coffey casts a fresh eye on the sports event that became a national fairy tale.
The Boys of Winter details the historic rise of a group of blue-collar amateurs—led by unconventional coach Herb Brooks—as they went head to head with Team Russia at the height of the Cold War.
Coffey chronicles the team’s path to victory, as well as the irrevocably life-changing impact of the Olympic win on the U.S. players and coaches.
The Darkest White
New York Times-bestselling author Eric Blehm presents an extraordinary sports biography about Craig Kelly, the legendary snowboarder who died in the 2003 Durrand Glacier Avalanche—a controversial tragedy that took the lives of seven people.
Hailed as the “Michael Jordan of snowboarding,” Craig Kelly was a world champion who had left the competition world to reconnect with the extreme sport of backcountry snowboarding in the alpine wilds of North America. The Darkest White tells his life story, his impact on the sport, and the tragic ending of his heroic journey.
The Boys in the Boat
This New York Times-bestselling book chronicles the 1936 Berlin Olympics, centering on the American rowing team that beat all odds.
Daniel James Brown presents a moving tale of the nine working-class boys from the United States who embarked on a daunting quest to reach the top. Again and again, the underdog team from the American West defied expectations, eventually defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler.
Featuring intimate entries from the boys’ journals, Brown paints a strikingly vivid portrait of an exciting era and a remarkable accomplishment, one that boldly countered the despair of the Great Depression.
Butterfly
Before Yusra Mardini was an Olympic swimmer, she was a teenager in the currents of the Aegean Sea, using her body to tow a sinking boat of refugees to safety. Butterfly is the harrowing and triumphant memoir of a young Syrian woman who refused to let war define her limits or sink her dreams.
From the life-or-death stakes of her escape to the global stage of the Rio 2016 Olympics, Mardini’s journey serves as a powerful reminder that "refugee" is a label, not an identity. Serving as more than a sports biography, this story is a testament to human resilience and the extraordinary courage required to find home when the world is on fire.
But Now I See: My Journey from Blindness to Olympic Gold
Steven Holcomb was at the height of his career as an Olympic-level American bobsledder when he was diagnosed with a rare degenerative eye disease called keratoconus. With the statistics showing one in four people left fully blind without a cornea transplant, Holcomb faced the fear of his dreams dying before his eyes.
Holcomb eventually revealed his career-altering condition to his coach, who led him to a revolutionary treatment, one that went on to be named the Holcomb C3-R. Holcomb later became the first American bobsledder since 1948 to win the Olympic gold medal, and this autobiography offers a glimpse into one man’s pursuit of a dream, and the power of a second chance.
Grace, Gold, & Glory
Gabrielle Douglas, the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history to become the individual All-Around champion, recounts her meteoric rise to fame and her experience as a U.S. Olympic gold medalist.
This moving autobiography details Gabrielle’s inspiring life story, one rooted in faith, perseverance, and determination. Grace, Gold, and Glory serves as a testament to the power of having the courage to break barriers, a powerful reminder that our dreams are never fully out of reach.
12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady's Fight for Redemption
This exhilarating account of the NFL’s most staggering scandal takes readers behind the scenes of the 2015 “deflategate” controversy, featuring exclusive insights from Tom Brady on his gritty comeback.
Ahead of Super Bowl XLIX, rumors about the New England Patriots using under-inflated footballs began circulating in the press. As evidence began building, the NFL launched an investigation that catapulted the original rumor into a headline that consumed national attention.
Casey Sherman breaks down the entire scandal, offering a new glimpse into Tom Brady’s tumultuous fight to restore his reputation as a star quarterback.
Featured image: Lucas Davies / Unsplash
