Usain Bolt: The Story of the World's Fastest Man
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Review
Downes ... dissects Bolt's he's-only human-after-all moment and the repercussions. He puts Bolt's life (not just his athletics career) in perfect context and produces a fascinating, informative book that I read at one sitting. -- Anton Rippon ...a fascinating life story that explains how Bolt's destiny was changed when his time for the 100m at a minor meeting in Crete in 2007 convinced him that the financial rewards being accrued by his compatriot, the then 100m world champion Asafa Powell, could be at his command, too. -- The Sports Bookshelf ...a light entertaining read and written with flair and accuracy. It is also a track fan's delight as it contains a chunky sections of stats... -- Athletics Weekly Downes traces the rise and rise of the world's most famous athlete, his well researched account laced with keen insight and many quotes, and "tracknuts" will particularly appreciate Mirko Javala's compilation of all of Bolt's 162 individual races, from a 22.04 200m on 7 Apr 2001 to a 9.76 100m on 16 Sep 2011. -- Mel Watman
Review
Downes ... dissects Bolt’s he’s-only human-after-all moment and the repercussions. He puts Bolt’s life (not just his athletics career) in perfect context and produces a fascinating, informative book that I read at one sitting. (Anton Rippon )
...a fascinating life story that explains how Bolt's destiny was changed when his time for the 100m at a minor meeting in Crete in 2007 convinced him that the financial rewards being accrued by his compatriot, the then 100m world champion Asafa Powell, could be at his command, too. (The Sports Bookshelf )
...a light entertaining read and written with flair and accuracy. It is also a track fan's delight as it contains a chunky sections of stats... (Athletics Weekly )
Downes traces the rise and rise of the world's most famous athlete, his well researched account laced with keen insight and many quotes, and "tracknuts" will particularly appreciate Mirko Javala's compilation of all of Bolt's 162 individual races, from a 22.04 200m on 7 Apr 2001 to a 9.76 100m on 16 Sep 2011. (Mel Watman )
...a fascinating life story that explains how Bolt's destiny was changed when his time for the 100m at a minor meeting in Crete in 2007 convinced him that the financial rewards being accrued by his compatriot, the then 100m world champion Asafa Powell, could be at his command, too. (The Sports Bookshelf )
...a light entertaining read and written with flair and accuracy. It is also a track fan's delight as it contains a chunky sections of stats... (Athletics Weekly )
Downes traces the rise and rise of the world's most famous athlete, his well researched account laced with keen insight and many quotes, and "tracknuts" will particularly appreciate Mirko Javala's compilation of all of Bolt's 162 individual races, from a 22.04 200m on 7 Apr 2001 to a 9.76 100m on 16 Sep 2011. (Mel Watman )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This review was published on the Verite Sport website
[...]
The first thing that strikes you about Steven Downes's 170 page paperback is how well written it is. You will not find many of Bolt's secrets as the book is not one on which Bolt has co-operated. It does, however, give an excellent overview of his career with the author's expert analysis.
Downes' first encounter with Bolt was in 2003 when he was running as a Junior. His account of the Bolt of that era gives us a rare insight into his early development. He was referred to as the future of athletics. No one could question that he has lived up to the billing.
As someone who was privileged to be there when Bolt won three Olympic gold medals in Beijing and three World Championship golds in Berlin 2009, to say nothing of two World Championship gold medals in Daegu 2011 - after that dramatic disqualification for a false start, I enjoyed re-living the experiences and the context in which Steve Downes placed them.
The 12 pages of statistics and Bolt's career records further enhance the value of the book.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced gift for someone, you will not go wrong with this book. It is suitable for anyone who has heard of Usain Bolt - which is just about anyone on the planet. Buy it, read it and give it to a friend.
[...]
The first thing that strikes you about Steven Downes's 170 page paperback is how well written it is. You will not find many of Bolt's secrets as the book is not one on which Bolt has co-operated. It does, however, give an excellent overview of his career with the author's expert analysis.
Downes' first encounter with Bolt was in 2003 when he was running as a Junior. His account of the Bolt of that era gives us a rare insight into his early development. He was referred to as the future of athletics. No one could question that he has lived up to the billing.
As someone who was privileged to be there when Bolt won three Olympic gold medals in Beijing and three World Championship golds in Berlin 2009, to say nothing of two World Championship gold medals in Daegu 2011 - after that dramatic disqualification for a false start, I enjoyed re-living the experiences and the context in which Steve Downes placed them.
The 12 pages of statistics and Bolt's career records further enhance the value of the book.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced gift for someone, you will not go wrong with this book. It is suitable for anyone who has heard of Usain Bolt - which is just about anyone on the planet. Buy it, read it and give it to a friend.
Format:Paperback
An interesting and fresh take on Usain Bolt's story. The fair and objective approach sets this book aside from a lot of material on the world's fastest man. Additionally, Downes provides his expert perspective on modern athletics as a whole, making it an engaging and insightful read altogether. Worth a read for anyone interested in athletics!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I won't enter into the world of precious authors who review their own work, but would like to bring to potential readers' attention this review, published by the Sports Journalists' Association, written by sports author and publisher Anton Rippon:
Before the Beijing Olympics, few people outside the ranks of committed track and field fans and the sport's specialist writers had heard of Usain Bolt.
One person very much in-the-know was Steven Downes, former editor of Athletics Weekly, who had been following Bolt's fortunes since a rainy day in the Canadian town of Sherbrooke (no, I hadn't heard if it either) when Downes interviewed the then 16-year-old at the world youth championships. Downes already knew that he was talking to a sporting legend in the making. Not least because an IAAF senior official had told him: "He's really very special."
So it follows that Downes, an award-winning writer who is the co-author of the acclaimed athletics book Running Scared, would be a good choice to write the biography of one of the five most famous sportsmen on the planet.
So we have Usain Bolt: The Story of the World's Fastest Man in which Downes paints a vivid picture of the man whose attraction is such that more than 1 million people applied for tickets to watch him run a race that will be over in less than 10 seconds - the 100 metres final at the 2012 Olympics.
The rest of us became aware of Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he achieved a unique feat: gold medals in the 100, 200 metres, and sprint relay, all in world record times. We became fascinated not only by the gangling Jamaican's running prowess but also by his pre-race antics. A year later, Bolt - as Downes points out, could there have ever been a better-named sprint champion? - won both individual sprints, again with world record-breaking performances, at the world championships in Berlin. He became the first man to hold Olympic and world titles for the 100 and 200 metres at the same time.
Then, of course, came The Most Famous False Start In History at this year's world championships in Daegu. For those who may have been stuck in a lift at the time, Bolt was disqualified from the 100m - his Blue Riband event - but collected his emotions sufficiently to win the 200m.
In a way, it was like Don Bradman getting bowled for a duck in his final Test innings and failing to establish a career Test average of 100 runs. It was a flaw that enhanced the legend.
Downes, who edits the SJA website in his spare time, dissects Bolt's he's-only human-after-all moment and the repercussions. He puts Bolt's life (not just his athletics career) in perfect context and produces a fascinating, informative book that I read at one sitting.
It's a must for anyone who has ever heard of Usain Bolt. And that means most of the planet. Blimey, think of the royalties.
Link to the article here: [...]
Before the Beijing Olympics, few people outside the ranks of committed track and field fans and the sport's specialist writers had heard of Usain Bolt.
One person very much in-the-know was Steven Downes, former editor of Athletics Weekly, who had been following Bolt's fortunes since a rainy day in the Canadian town of Sherbrooke (no, I hadn't heard if it either) when Downes interviewed the then 16-year-old at the world youth championships. Downes already knew that he was talking to a sporting legend in the making. Not least because an IAAF senior official had told him: "He's really very special."
So it follows that Downes, an award-winning writer who is the co-author of the acclaimed athletics book Running Scared, would be a good choice to write the biography of one of the five most famous sportsmen on the planet.
So we have Usain Bolt: The Story of the World's Fastest Man in which Downes paints a vivid picture of the man whose attraction is such that more than 1 million people applied for tickets to watch him run a race that will be over in less than 10 seconds - the 100 metres final at the 2012 Olympics.
The rest of us became aware of Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he achieved a unique feat: gold medals in the 100, 200 metres, and sprint relay, all in world record times. We became fascinated not only by the gangling Jamaican's running prowess but also by his pre-race antics. A year later, Bolt - as Downes points out, could there have ever been a better-named sprint champion? - won both individual sprints, again with world record-breaking performances, at the world championships in Berlin. He became the first man to hold Olympic and world titles for the 100 and 200 metres at the same time.
Then, of course, came The Most Famous False Start In History at this year's world championships in Daegu. For those who may have been stuck in a lift at the time, Bolt was disqualified from the 100m - his Blue Riband event - but collected his emotions sufficiently to win the 200m.
In a way, it was like Don Bradman getting bowled for a duck in his final Test innings and failing to establish a career Test average of 100 runs. It was a flaw that enhanced the legend.
Downes, who edits the SJA website in his spare time, dissects Bolt's he's-only human-after-all moment and the repercussions. He puts Bolt's life (not just his athletics career) in perfect context and produces a fascinating, informative book that I read at one sitting.
It's a must for anyone who has ever heard of Usain Bolt. And that means most of the planet. Blimey, think of the royalties.
Link to the article here: [...]
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