World Class: The Making of the U.S. Women's Cross-Country Ski Team

What makes a great team? Sports journalist Peggy Shinn answers this question in her enthralling account of the dramatic rise of the U.S. women's cross-country ski team, winners of eight medals at three world championships over the past five years. Shinn's story--based on dozens of interviews with athletes, coaches, parents, spouses, and friends--paints a vivid picture of the obstacles that America's female athletes must overcome not just to ski with the world's best, but to beat them. In a sport where U.S. women have toiled for decades, mostly in the middle or the back of the pack, the development of a world-class team attests to the heady combination of a transformational leader, a coach who connects with his athletes, the super-fast individual skiers who are also conscientious teammates--and a bit of good luck. This is the story of Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, Jessie Diggins, Ida Sargent, Sadie Bjornsen, Sophie Caldwell, Rosie Brennan, and coach Matt Whitcomb--and how they created the perfect team.

Author: Peggy Shinn
Publisher: Foreedge
Published: 03/01/2018
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9781512600650
ISBN10: 1512600652
BISAC Categories:
- Sports & Recreation | Winter Sports | Skiing
- Sports & Recreation | Olympics & Paralympics

About the Author
PEGGY SHINN is a senior contributor to the U.S. Olympic Committee's website, TeamUSA.org, and a former contributing editor to Ski Racing magazine. She is the author of Deluge: Tropical Storm Irene, Vermont's Flash Floods, and How One Small State Saved Itself.