'A Proper Spectacle' - Back Cover Mocked and scorned…..
Determined to win…..
Braving disappointment…..
Making history…..
The women who took part in the Olympics in the early years of this century had to fight to win a place at the Games. Authors Stephanie Daniels and Anita Tedder tell the story of this struggle, and introduce some of the unforgettable characters who shaped female sporting history. Women like glamorous swimmer Eleanor Holm, who trained on champagne and partied all night before winning races. American fencer Joanna de Tuscan, enticed to audition for the lead in ‘Gone With The Wind’, who had to flee when a Hollywood mogul invited her to cross swords on his casting couch. German javelin thrower, Tilly Fleischer, invited to dine with Hitler. Scottish swimmers Cissie Stewart and Jean McDowell, bound by friendship but locked in fierce competition with each other. And the sad story of sprinter Stella Walsh, who ran as a woman but died as a man. A Proper Spectacle reveals the hidden history of the women who competed before the Second World War and celebrates a hundred years of women’s Olympic achievement. |