The story of sport told from the point of view of the excluded
What we know as competitive sport today was invented by a white male elite at the end of the nineteenth century, when they founded clubs for sporting gentlemen, organised competitions and measured feats in centimetres and seconds. T
he Olympic Games celebrated sport with the motto ‘The most important thing is not winning, but taking part‘, but in truth, many people have been prevented from joining in.
In the hundred years or so since then, the excluded – people with a disability, women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people, Jews, Muslims and others – have fought hard to become part of world sport. In fact, some are still struggling.
Finally, «Taking Part Would Be Everything» tells the history of sport from their perspective – including that of Battling Siki, the first African-born boxing world champion; Alfonsina Strada, the first woman ever to ride the Giro d’Italia; and champion athlete Caster Semenya, who was born with DSD and has been fighting discrimination for years.
A revealing and thought-provoking book, which will change the way we look at sport for ever.