The world's greatest sporting events, chock-full of guts, glory and going for gold. If you want to read about that, you'd better look elsewhere. The gold medals handed out in this book are for inept athletes, shameful scandals, freakish weather, cheaters, chokers and much worse. But it's not all bad. You'll also read about athletes who went from chump to champ and warm your heart to stories of high-stakes heroism and fair play. There may still be hope for humans --- and sports competitions!

Read about
? unbeatable runners who tested positive for turtle's blood and caterpillar fungus
? the snowboarder whose hot-dog move cost her a gold medal
? live animal hunting, dueling with pistols and other events now (thankfully) discontinued
? a medal-winning gymnast with a wooden leg
? the sailor who gave up a chance at the gold medal to save a drowning competitor