The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are now only a few weeks away. They start on 5 August and run until 21 August. There are around 350 athletes and support staff that make up this year's New Zealand Olympic team. I wonder how many medals we will win this time?
New Zealand author David Riley has just written a great book all about the amazing athletes who have won gold medals at the Olympic Games over the years. The book is called Golden Kiwis and David takes us on a journey through '100 years of Kiwi excellence in the Olympic Games.'
David gives us some background information on the Olympic Games, from the very first Olympics in Greece in 8BC through to the modern Olympics of today that started in 1896. You then learn about the outstanding sporting feats of all of our gold medal winners, from our very first with Malcolm Champion (great name for an athlete!) in 1912, through to Valerie Adams and Lisa Carrington. It's great to see that Golden Paralympians like Sophie Pascoe are also included in the book.
There are some really great features of this book that I like. There are heaps of photos of the athletes, especially the action shots of them competing in their sports. One of the coolest features of the book is that David has included QR codes with each athlete so that you can scan the code and watch a video of them competing and winning.
Golden Kiwis is an inspiring book that just goes to prove you can achieve your goals if you set your mind to it.
We have an author interview with David Riley and here is a video of him talking about his book, Golden Kiwis:
If you want to find out more about the Olympics and New Zealand sportspeople try these:
- The Story of the Olympics: The Wacky Facts About the Olympics and Olympic Champions Down the Centuries! by Richard Brassey
- The World of Olympics by Nick Hunter
- The Complete Book of the Olympics by David Wallenchinsky
- New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame: 25 Kiwi Champions by Maria Gill and Marco Ivancic
- Search the catalogue for Olympics - Children's Nonfiction
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