New Amazing Athletes book may help to sooth those Olympic cravings

Written By ROBERT BELARDI

The Olympics were supposed to begin this month. The world was meant to rejoice and gaze their eyes on competitive athletes trying to make their country proud. 

It's always a nice feeling, but without the Olympics and Paralympics, it's also nice to read a book on the most historical Olympians and Paralympians to date. 

Wide Eyed Editions presents Amazing Athletes: 40 Inspiring Icons. It's a list, compiled of the most famous and notable athletes across all competitions. Fitting this might wet the pallet of Olympic fans currently with dry mouths in this already, less-eventful summer than in years past. 

Written by Jean-Michael Billioud and Illustrated by Gonoh, these authors had one thing in mind. Choose wisely and make sure this book is attractive in appearance and in writing. Check that one off the critiquing chart, because that's exactly what they've done. 

Each athlete has two pages to their name. On the left, is a description, what they became after their career, their biography and some notable information not known by the average reader. 

For example, Madge Syers, was “tenacious” and participated with the men's category in Ice-Skating in 1902. She finished in second, smashing everyone's expectations. 

Beside the left page, is an animated figure of the athlete on the right. It will display their records, their medals and small detailed descriptions on what differentiated them from other competitors by simply pointing at a part of the body such as the head, or the ankle for instance. 

At the bottom of the page, is a nickname. Fanny Blankers-Koen was known as the Dutch Rocket and Tommie Smith was known as The Black Panther. You get the point. 

There are a plenitude of athletes embedded within this work of art, the average sports fan may not know; aside from Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, okay, those are exceptions. 

 And that's a good thing. It's about education and learning new details that defined these incredible people. 

One of which is Jonas Jacobsson. The Swedish Paralympian, nicknamed The Sharpshooter participated in nine straight Paralympic Games. He won 30 medals from 1980 to 2012. 

Shooting began in Toronto in 1976. It's a meticulous sport, it's not as simple as taking aim and firing. 

In each page there is a quote from athletes as well. It's the personal, human connection that is found within this book. Not every athlete has it but most do. 

Marie-Jose Perec believed, “winning was a matter of life or death.” That's the way she thought. That was her mentality. 

This is a great book for all ages. Children would benefit heavily from reading it. There are animations to catch their eye and small descriptions about each athlete. 

The problem? And yes, there is one. It is quite short. It won't take long to read this book and priced at $18.99, it won't be long before it ends up on the shelf. 

This book is full of heroes and inspirations. There is no telling if this list is a ranking system as well. It doesn't seem like it is. So, the authors have the left the ultimate choice to you, who is your hero, who is your greatest Olympian/Paralympian? The choice is yours. 

At the end of the book, readers can do further research into the rest of the series. Soccer Stars, Greek Gods and Heroes, Music Legends and Black Music Greats, People of Peace and Super Scientists are all headlined in the end. All under the same umbrella of 40 Inspiring Icons.