Title/Author:
“Ice Gold”
by Ted Wyman
Tags:
Curling, Winter Olympics
Publish date:
October 1,
2014
Length:
240 pages
Rating:
4 of 5
stars (very good)
Review:
During the
2014 Winter Olympics, a rare accomplishment occurred when both the men’s and
women’s curling teams from Canada won their respective gold medals. The stories
of both teams and how they rose from curling club competition to Olympic
champions are captured in this book by sportswriter Ted Wyman.
The two
skips of each team, Jennifer Jones and Brad Jacobs, are the prominent
characters in the tales of the two squads, as Wyman details their lives in and
out of the rink and how they both achieved their goals through hard work and
each overcoming obstacles. Whether these obstacles were their personal lives or
on the ice, the way both Jones and Jacobs rose to the top of their games is an
inspiring story.
The book alternates chapters between the men’s and women’s teams, which is a good format as it keeps the reader in the flow for both teams. The chapters were not too long, which helped keep me on track while I was reading it. The styles for the writing between the chapters on the men’s and women’s teams were different as well. Wyman tells of the relationships and inner conflicts for the women, such as when Jones had to let a long time teammate go in favor of a new player. For the men’s team, Wyman writes a lot on their training and athleticism. I chuckled when he would mention how good they looked in their t-shirts.
The
stories of both teams were inspiring and it is clear to the reader that these
teams were revered by an entire nation when they achieved their dreams of
winning the gold medal. It was not the
typical Olympic book with these stories and will be a good addition to the
library of someone who is a curling aficionado or likes uplifting Olympic
stories.
I wish to
thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest
review.
Pace of the book:
Having not
followed the sport of curling for very long and am still only a casual fan at
best, I had some difficulty with the more advanced terminology and descriptions
of some of the matches. These passages
took me longer to read as I sometimes had to refer to looking up some of the
terms. But overall, the flow and pace of
this book was very good.
Do I recommend?
Serious
curling fans or athletes will enjoy this book on two excellent teams that
overcame long odds to win Olympic gold medals
Book Format Read:
E-book
(Kindle)
Buying links:
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