Olympic Obsession: The Inside Story of Britain's Most Successful Sport

A raw and emotional look into the personalities behind the incredible success story of British Rowing, as it prepares to face its biggest challenge yet in the London Olympic Games. 

This revised and updated edition contains one completely new chapter and additions to the 14 original chapters. Set to a compelling narrative, the book unfolds against the story of Martin Cross, himself an Olympic champion, and takes us under the skin of the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Mathew Pinsent and more recently, Beijing Olympic fours champion, Tom James. 

If you really want to know what it’s like to race with Redgrave, or why rowing is Britain’s most successful Olympic sport, then Olympic Obsession is the book for you. But it’s much more than just ‘another sports book’ Cross describes what it’s like to experience and recover from emotional break-down, as he struggles to leave his own obsessions behind. The intensity, passion and depth of the many relationships sensitively described by Cross will sound a powerful note in any reader’s heart.

As an Olympic champion, Martin Cross has a unique take both on what it takes to perform at the highest levels and the cost of trying to stay there. After Sir Steve Redgrave, Cross has represented Britain more times than any other rower and has competed at four Olympic Games. For the last 20 years, he has both written and broadcast on all aspects the sport of rowing. He is the rowing correspondent of The Guardian and for BBC 5 Live. The London Olympics will be the fourth Games that he has covered.  He combines a career as a history teacher with that of a motivational trainer and executive coach, which gives him an enviable insight into the psychology of performance.  

"…a terrific, unputdownable, no-holds-barred memoir-and-more by champion-turned-broadcaster Martin Cross…It should already be heading the sports-book-of-the-year short list."
The Guardian, September 2001 

"Cross…has eschewed the traditional anodyne autobiography, with its mundane observations and well-known facts, to produce a work that caused waves within the sport, not to mention offering a genuine insight into the world of rowing."
The Times, August 2001