Sports Athletes

Activists take a stand. They speak out and demand change. From legendary boxer Muhammad Ali to baseball star Carlos Delgado, listeners discover the pro athletes who have affected change by speaking out against war and its impact on society.

From tennis legend Billie Jean King to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, athletes have fought for equity and fairness for women in professional sports. Discover the pro athletes who have used their platform to speak out and affect change for all women.

More than a century ago, a woman ran in the very first modern Olympic marathon. She just did it without permission. Award-winning journalist Maggie Mertens uncovers the story of how women broke into competitive running and how they are getting faster and fiercer every day—and changing our understanding of what is possible as they go.

Do you struggle with self-doubt, pressure, or inconsistency on the field? Tired of letting fear and nerves hold you back from playing your best? This book is your game-changer. Get ready to train your mind like an elite athlete and develop the confidence, focus, and mental toughness needed to dominate the game. Players Have Reported The Following Side Effects: A New Sense of Confidence (walk onto the field knowing you’ve got this!) Automatic Positive Self-Talk (goodbye, negative thoughts!)

Along the path to any goal - completing a marathon or a thesis paper, winning a medal or a contract - familiar mental hurdles arise: We may fixate on the odds of failure or find our interest flags two-thirds of the way through. That’s when elite endurance athletes - top performers in running, cycling, and swimming - turn to their rich arsenal of cognitive strategies to overcome self-doubt and unlock peak performance.

Famous three-time Grand Slam winner Arthur Ashe pointed out that many in sports fall victim to “paralysis by analysis”. Athletes on any level can experience the pain of overthinking and sabotaging their performance. Blame many traditional methods of teaching and training. How can we train smarter, not harder? If only our body and mind could perform in a way that’s more natural and instinctive. The best athletes have this quality, but many feel it is simply unattainable for them. I assure you it is not.

The Athlete’s Gut is an in-depth look at a system that plagues many athletes. This guide offers a much-needed resource for troubleshooting GI problems. The majority of endurance athletes suffer from some kind of gut problem during training and competition. Symptoms like nausea, cramping, bloating, side stitches, and the need to defecate can negatively impact an athlete’s performance. Why are gut problems so common during exercise? And what can athletes do to prevent and manage gut symptoms that occur during training and competition?

Master Your Mental Game Unlock the mental edge to elevate your game with Mental Fitness for Young Basketball Players. This guide to sports psychology is crafted specifically for aspiring basketball players looking to sharpen their focus, build resilience, and overcome the unique mental challenges faced on and off the court. From managing pre-game nerves to bouncing back after tough losses, this book empowers basketball players to develop the confidence and mindset needed to thrive in any situation.

Whether you call him King James or simply LeBron, one thing is certain: LeBron James is THE face of the NBA. At just eighteen, and facing sky-high expectations, LeBron headed straight from high school to the pros. Cool under pressure, he went on to shatter the record books and become the most popular athlete in America.

When you think of Stephen Curry, one word comes to mind: greatness. From shooting three-pointers with laser precision to his clutch ability to hit buzzer-beaters time and again, he has established himself as one of the best players in pro basketball. But greatness was never a guarantee for Steph.

Why couldn't Michael Jordan, master athlete that he was, hit a baseball? Why can't modern robotics come close to replicating the dexterity of a five-year-old? Why do good quarterbacks always seem to know where their receivers are?In this deeply researched book, sports and business reporter Zach Schonbrun explores what actually drives human movement and its spectacular potential. The groundbreaking work of two neuroscientists in Major League Baseball is only the beginning.

Iris Marshall never wanted to be anything more than what she is—an official for the European League of (American) Football. So, why had she said yes to being a courier for the CIA? She’s not sure, especially when it lands her in an international thriller that has her on the run from a killer. And worse, the person she’s on the run with? Arrogant, bossy, playboy Hudson Bly, a football player and the last person on Earth she wants to go into hiding with.

By age twenty, at the height of the Jazz Age, Trudy Ederle was the most accomplished swimmer in the world. She’d won Olympic gold and set a host of world records. But the greatest challenge remained: the English Channel. Only a few swimmers, none of them women, had ever made the treacherous twenty-one mile crossing. Trudy’s failed first attempt seemed to confirm what many naysayers believed: No woman could possibly accomplish such a thing. In 1926, Ederle proved them wrong.

From noted ESPN commentator and journalist Kate Fagan, the heartbreaking and vital story of college athlete Madison Holleran, whose death by suicide rocked the University of Pennsylvania campus and whose life reveals with haunting detail and uncommon understanding the struggle of young people suffering from mental illness today.

From the author of the award-winning Game Changer comes a new novel about two student-athletes searching for stardom, a young reporter searching for the truth, and a crosstown basketball rivalry that goes too far.

Dan "Hendo" Henderson was the first fighter in MMA history to become a double champion, winning championships in PRIDE Fighting Championships and Strikeforce. He faced the biggest names in MMA, on his unparalleled run through the early days of MMA through its remarkable rise in popularity, squaring off against the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, and Renzo Gracie. Henderson's first fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in 2011 is considered one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Stop leaving your sports performances down to chance. Implement our 5 simple science-backed mental toughness strategies and start seeing improvements straight away. Expertly written with real-world advice and key psychological insights, The Mental Resilience Method for Young Athletes reveals 5 powerful science-based techniques that will propel your athletic performances into the realm of the champions.

Champions, as the familiar adage preaches, are not born—they're made. Reaching the top of any sport, or any aspect of life, takes years upon years of dedication and proper preparation. But if there's a huge pool of individuals who have undertaken the same commitment and steps towards becoming the best, what truly separates the winners from everyone else? Joanna Zeiger believes proper mental preparation is the answer. The Champion Mindset is a much-needed and long overdue look into how to program a competitor's mind to achieve optimal success.

From the New York Times best-selling author of Return of the King comes the story of LeBron James' incredible transformation from basketball star to sports and business mogul.

On the last night of the 2021 CrossFit Games, ten thousand fans watched in horror as Brooke Wells’ elbow dislocated under the weight of a 190-pound barbell. This is the extraordinary story of what happened next: How Wells pulled off a highly improbable comeback that transformed her mentally and physically into one of the fittest women in the world. In Resilient, Wells provides a refreshingly honest, authentic account of how she overcame fear, self-doubt, and a slew of unexpected obstacles to return to the CrossFit Games less than a year after undergoing total elbow reconstruction.