The Other Olympians
Book description
Named a Most Anticipated Book by Esquire, Town & Country, and Electric Literature
"Michael Waters performs an Olympian act of storytelling, using the stories of these extraordinary athletes to explore in brilliant detail the struggle for understanding and equality." ―Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life, winner of the Pulitzer…
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Why read it?
1 author picked The Other Olympians as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
It began with the Nazis. This is perhaps the most important thing to know about sex testing for women athletes. "The Other Olympians" traces the roots of athletic sex testing for women, which began at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin by the Nazi regime because of sexist and eugenicist paranoia about sex and gender. Michael Waters, a strong storyteller, shows that when two high-profile athletes transitioned their gender, women Olympians—but not men—had to “prove” their gender through physical exams. This practice continued through the end of the twentieth century and was succeeded by hormone and genetic testing. To anyone concerned…