When I first started this book I thought it was going to focus mostly on Elizabeth "Betty" Robinson, the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal, but Ms. Montillo went above and beyond, focusing not only on Ms. Robinson but numerous other Olympic women and the struggles that they faced not only during the 1928, 1932, and 1936 Olympics, but also in their personal lives.
Extremely well researched and written, the author takes you to a time where a woman's place was in the home. Women were not supposed to be athletes or even educated for that matter. Every woman was supposed to be content being a house wife and having a family but this was a time of change in America. We had made it through World War I and were about to be thrusted into the throws of Great Depression. Everything was changing.
The first woman participated in the Olympic games in Paris in 1900, and even then they were only allowed to participate in "safe" events like lawn tennis and golf. The 1928 games was the first Olympics that women were allowed to compete in the track and field event. This came with a lot of opposition because it was feared that women participating in track and field events would either deem them unattractive to men or actually turn them into men. After a struggle between the International Olympic Committee and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale women were allowed equal entrance into the Olympics.
Fire on the Track gives a detailed background into many of the women athletes that competed in track and field. You get a clear picture of the events that took place and the people that were there to experience them. Some of the details are incredibly personal and graphic but it helps you gain an understanding of that individual and appreciate what all they had to overcome to compete at such a high level. They had to endure prejudice as well as family opposition, their own personal trials and tribulations, and personal demons on the road to the Olympics. All of these women paved the way for all female athletes today and I am honored to now know their story.
This was such an interesting biography and a subject I now find myself fascinated with, not only with women athletes in the Olympics, but the Olympics as a whole. It is extremely well written and with such incredible attention to detail that at times you find yourself getting lost in that world.
The book is divided into three sections: the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, and finally the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. While I enjoyed the book as a whole the details of the 1936 games were the most intriguing to me, especially knowing what Hitler and the Nazi party were up to at that time, and seeing how much they kept covered up while hosting the games. It's sickening but it also gives you another dimension into this tumultuous time.
I highly recommend this wonderful resource and promise you will not be disappointed!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
Extremely well researched and written, the author takes you to a time where a woman's place was in the home. Women were not supposed to be athletes or even educated for that matter. Every woman was supposed to be content being a house wife and having a family but this was a time of change in America. We had made it through World War I and were about to be thrusted into the throws of Great Depression. Everything was changing.
The first woman participated in the Olympic games in Paris in 1900, and even then they were only allowed to participate in "safe" events like lawn tennis and golf. The 1928 games was the first Olympics that women were allowed to compete in the track and field event. This came with a lot of opposition because it was feared that women participating in track and field events would either deem them unattractive to men or actually turn them into men. After a struggle between the International Olympic Committee and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale women were allowed equal entrance into the Olympics.
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| Betty Robinson at the 1928 Olympic Games |
Fire on the Track gives a detailed background into many of the women athletes that competed in track and field. You get a clear picture of the events that took place and the people that were there to experience them. Some of the details are incredibly personal and graphic but it helps you gain an understanding of that individual and appreciate what all they had to overcome to compete at such a high level. They had to endure prejudice as well as family opposition, their own personal trials and tribulations, and personal demons on the road to the Olympics. All of these women paved the way for all female athletes today and I am honored to now know their story.
This was such an interesting biography and a subject I now find myself fascinated with, not only with women athletes in the Olympics, but the Olympics as a whole. It is extremely well written and with such incredible attention to detail that at times you find yourself getting lost in that world.
The book is divided into three sections: the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, and finally the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. While I enjoyed the book as a whole the details of the 1936 games were the most intriguing to me, especially knowing what Hitler and the Nazi party were up to at that time, and seeing how much they kept covered up while hosting the games. It's sickening but it also gives you another dimension into this tumultuous time.
I highly recommend this wonderful resource and promise you will not be disappointed!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
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