The Price of Gold
The Toll and Triumph of One Man's Olympic Dream
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- $32.99
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- $32.99
Publisher Description
The harrowing, triumphant tale of a cyclist's journey to Olympic victory and the price he paid to achieve greatness.
Marty Nothstein, one of the greatest cyclists of all time, arrived at the 1996 Olympic Games a heavy favorite. In the match sprint at the Atlanta Olympics, an event akin to prizefighting on a bicycle, he raced around a banked, oval track. Nothstein lost by a hair's width on the finish line and vowed to win the gold at the next Olympics, saying, "I didn't come here for a silver medal."
In The Price of Gold, Marty Nothstein eloquently and honestly tracks his journey to the games in Sydney and the events that molded him into the world's fastest man on a bicycle—from his tough-love upbringing in a blue-collar, split home, to the "borderline outlaw" cast of cycling characters who helped guide him through the ranks.
"I had to become the worst, to become the best," Nothstein says of the single-minded determination that turned him into a veritable monster on his bike, but often forced him to neglect his own family. Sure to become a sports classic, this book will be published in time for the 2012 Olympics, when the world's eyes are trained on London and international conversation will turn to the question of what it takes to win the gold.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Olympic gold and silver medalist Nothstein does not mince words. "I may ride a bike faster than any human on the planet," he writes on the first page of this nervy, narcissistic, and aptly-titled memoir. Indeed, Nothstein paid a hefty price to rise to the top of a sport for "which only the Olympics matter," and whose competitors race at speeds approaching 50mph on a steeply banked oval track. Obsessed with being the #1 track cyclist in the world, Nothstein risked his marriage, his health, and fatherhood in the years between his disappointing 2nd-place finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and finally claiming gold at the 2000 Sydney games. He trained constantly, rarely resting and becoming, in his words, "downright mean." Now retired from the sport, Nothstein serves as the executive director of the Pennsylvania velodrome where he spent countless hours training. Nothstein and Bicycling magazine contributor Dille write in staccato bursts of narrative energy recalling intricate details from numerous races, describing Nothstein's aggressive drive to win, and providing an insider's account of the business of racing sponsorships. This unflinching tale of the brutal agonies and sweet triumphs of a world-class athlete will thrill cyclists and sports fans in general.
