From: ed@wente.llnl.gov (Ed Suranyi)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.olympics
Subject: Book Recommendation: The Complete Book of the Olympics
Date: 28 Jul 92 22:13:41 GMT
Organization: UC Davis Dept of Applied Science at LLNL

For all of you who, like me, are avid fans of the Olympics, I strongly
recommend "The Complete Book of the Olympics", by David Wallechinsky,
published by Little, Brown.

This large book (over 750 pages) lists the final results (down to 
eighth place, in most cases) for every Olympic event from 1896 through
1988.

It also has hundreds of articles (most short, a few several pages long)
discussing the fascinating things that have ocurred:  The surprising
upsets, the great controversies, the emotional moments are all covered.

Here are just a couple of short examples, to give you the flavor:

Fencing, Men's Individual Sabre, 1924 -- Paris

     "The Italians, led by Oreste Puliti, had already defeated the
Hungarians to win the team sabre title, and another showdown seemed
certain in the individual championship as four Italians and three
Hungarians were among the twelve who qualified for the final round.  The
final matches began with the Official Jury of Appeal ordering the four
Italians -- Puliti, Bertinetti, Bini, and Sarrocchi -- to fight off
against each other.  As expected, Puliti beat the other three with ease.
But the judges were not satisfied.  Led by Kovacs, the Hungarian judge,
they maintained that the other three had thrown their matches against
Puliti in order to increase his chances for a gold medal.
     "Outraged by these accusations, Puliti threatened to cane Judge
Kovacs.  Puliti was disqualified, and Bertinetti, Bini, and Sarocchi
walked out in protest.  Two days later Puliti and Kovacs ran into each
other at a music hall and renewed their argument.  When Kovacs haughtily
told Puliti that he couldn't understand the furious fencer because he didn't
speak Italian, Puliti hit the Hungarian in the face and said that Kovacs
surely couldn't fail to understand that.  The two men were pulled apart,
but further words were exchanged and a formal duel was proposed.
     ". . . [After a fencing duel in which both were wounded] Puliti
and Kovacs shook hands and made up."

Men's 10,000 meters, 1976 -- Montreal

     "However, the 1976 10,000 meters competition should not be left
without making mention of Olmeus Charles of Haiti, whose performance
in the opening heat was the ultimate expression of the Olympic ideal that
what counts is not the winning, but the taking part.  Charles completed
the course in 42:00.11, the slowest time ever recorded in the Olympics,
almost 14 minutes slower than Carlos Lopes, who won the heat, and over
8 1/2  minutes slower than Chris McCubbins of Canada, who placed next
to last.  [The final was won by Lasse Viren of Finland in 27:40.38.]
The entire schedule had to be held up while Charles plodded the last six
laps alone.  In 1972 and 1976, Haitian runners consistently finished in
last place.  At first reflection, one might feel sympathy for the
Haitians.  After all, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western 
Hemisphere and malnutrition is widespread.  However, there is no
evidence that tryouts were actually held to determine the nation's best
runners.  Instead, "Baby Doc" Duvalier, the dictator of Haiti, simply
chose his friends and other trusted soldiers, and rewarded them with a
free trip to Canada.  Unfortunately, none of them were athletes."

I've been referring to this book quite a bit, while watching the games.

Ed
ed@wente.llnl.gov

Newsgroups: rec.sport.olympics