Vijayan Bala’s new book launched at New Delhi World Book Fair

Discover the history and stars of the Olympics worldwide in Vijayan Bala's latest book with rare photos and anecdotes.

Following up on his well-received book on India’s Olympic Medal Winners, Vijayan Bala has now come out with a successor, this time recounting the Olympic history and stars from across the globe.

History and Stars of the World’s Greatest Sporting Event: From Athens 1896 to Paris 2024 talks about the lives and achievements of 82 of the world’s most iconic and decorated Olympic stars and includes rare photographs, interesting anecdotes and a brief Olympic history.

“After the previous book on Indian medallists, I thought why should we restrict ourselves to Indian sports? Why not go global and let the readers know about some of the greatest sportspersons and how they overcame all kinds of adversities? That’s how this latest book was thought of and it took a lot of research and brainstorming to decide on the final 82 names,” Bala said on its launch at the New Delhi World Book Fair.

Published by Wonder House Books, the book includes some of the better-known names like Nadia Comaneci and Carl Lewis but there are some little-known ones too, including the likes of Karoly Takacs, the Hungarian 25m rapid fire shooter who lost his right hand to a grenade explosion but trained shooting with his left for over a decade to win back-to-back golds at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

However, there is only one Indian on the list – Dhyan Chand – and the occasion had hockey legends Ajitpal Singh and Harbinder Singh to honour his presence.

“For me, the game against West Germany in 1968 in Mexico will always be special since it was my Olympic debut and we had lost our first match to New Zealand. The night before I couldn’t sleep. The Germans were powerful but I managed the pressure and it was the start of my Olympic journey,” Ajitpal reminisced.

Interestingly, Harbinder listed the same game as one of his favourite moments, scoring with a reverse flick from the top of the circle.