In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?
We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they?
The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research.
In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called 10,000-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence.
Along the way, Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not, and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete’s will to train, might in fact have important genetic components.
This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as: Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa’s geography? Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition? Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom? Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field? Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.

Former ace runner Kakeru grudgingly returns to the sport when college senior Haiji recruits him to an unlikely team with one goal: the Hakoden relay.

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

《胜者王冠》讲述了古代世界的体育竞技，以生动有趣的笔法向读者介绍体育，尤其是奥林匹克运动在古典时代的起源、发展以及社会作用。作者的书写横跨几个世纪，从古希腊时代一直到晚期罗马以及早期拜占庭。大卫•波特写道，对古人而言体育竞技不仅关乎宗教信仰以及政治斗争，还很可能是一种社交手段与权利，展示出与现代体育竞技有所不同的竞技风貌。是一本风趣的文化读物。
★★★ ★★★
下笔生动，将古代竞技的细节带到读者眼前。——《独立报》
写得很好，资讯丰富。这本书把一些复杂的内容讲得很清楚。推荐阅读。——S.A.莱西斯，《选择》
生动、权威。波特有技巧地深入古希腊生活中有关竞技的那一部分，并注意到了它和奥林匹克运动的关联。当他写到罗马时期，内容更为活灵活现。他追溯了运动的起源，讲述运动怎样成为一种职业、运动员和角斗士的的生活方式等，解开了一些谜团。这本书很迷人，深具表现力。——詹姆斯·麦康纳西，《星期天泰晤士报》

Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

《倒转金字塔》中文版对中文足球读物的意义，正如辽宁号航空母舰对中国海军的意义，正需要这样的吨位和技术含量。这是一本讲述足球战术历史的书，从维多利亚女王时代人们为足球制定规则讲起，徐徐展开一幅恢宏画卷，众多名帅、阵型、战术和王者之师纷至沓来，一直延续到如今风靡全球的巴萨风格。不光有精彩的情节和栩栩如生的人物，还有高屋建瓴的观察和思索；不光展现球场上下的斗智斗勇，还见微知著地触及了人性、人生这样的宏大命题。
在欧美国家的销量体现出这本书的受欢迎程度，知名足球记者的评价印证了这本书的水准，中文版肯定能让中文读者对足球的认知大大提高一个台阶。
首先是增加知识，加快启蒙的进程，例如弄清楚一些耳熟不能详的概念，澄清一些中文里盛行已久的讹传；其次是获得乐趣，这是一部战术史，也是一本故事集，不时出现小说般引人入胜、喜剧般妙趣横生的情节，提供了真实好玩的段子供显摆；第三是了解基础上的理解，比较系统、完整地了解足球战术一百多年来的变化后，会大大拓展眼界，提高思维高度；最后，读者还可以从作者的行文思路和观察角度中获得启迪，感受历史的偶然和复杂，领悟选择与努力、成功与幸福的关系，远离那种非此即彼、非黑即白的二分法，摆脱立场决定观点、观点决定证据、不区分借口和根据的思维方式。

Dangal is an extraordinary true story based on the life of Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film traces the inspirational journey of a father who trains his daughters to become world class wrestlers.

对古希腊人来说，竞技场不仅是梦想之地，更是欲望之所。本书围绕爱欲之神厄洛斯与古希腊运动员、古希腊竞技运动，以及古希腊人的性、性别和宗教崇拜的广泛联系，对古希腊体育和身体文化在这一广泛联系中所表现出的特征，以及其显著区别于现代运动的各个方面进行了细致研究。作者的视角贯穿荷马时代、古风、古典时期，直至希腊化和罗马时代，依托古代体育的演变，探讨了古希腊奥运会的文学艺术来源及宗教仪式背景，描述了性别和性倾向在不同历史时期的社会价值，探究了裸露运动与变革的开端，展示了公共体育节日在欲望和死亡之间的哲学涵义，以及古希腊人的身体文化的理论内涵。