The Samia Yusuf Omar Biography: She Finished Last at the Beijing Olympics and the Crowd Cheered. Samia Yusuf Omar was seventeen when she ran last in her 200m heat at Beijing 2008. She trained in a war zone, was threatened by Al-Shabaab for being a female athlete, crossed the Sahara, was kidnapped in Libya, and … Read more
The Erik Weihenmayer Biography: The Blind Man Who Climbed Everest. Erik Weihenmayer lost his sight at fourteen, became a wrestler and then a mountaineer, summited Everest in 2001 as the first blind person in history, completed the Seven Summits, kayaked the Grand Canyon, and built a movement that has helped hundreds of thousands of people … Read more
Vincent Kompany Biography The Vincent Kompany Biography: He Scored the Most Important Goal of His Career at the Worst Possible Moment. Vincent Kompany grew up in Brussels being called monkey by opponents, was expelled from school, survived his parents’ divorce and eviction, played through 37 injuries that cost him two full years of football, earned … Read more
Jay-Jay Okocha Biography The Jay-Jay Okocha Biography: He Went on Holiday to Germany and Accidentally Became a Legend Jay-Jay Okocha humiliated Oliver Kahn with a goal so outrageous that German football magazines made it Goal of the Season — and he was playing for a mid-table club. He became the most expensive African player in … Read more
Didier Drogba Biography The Didier Drogba Biography: He Scored in Every Final and Stopped a War in 59 Seconds Didier Drogba scored 10 goals in 10 finals, equalised in the last minute of the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, scored the winning penalty, and is Chelsea’s greatest foreign goalscorer. But his greatest moment happened … Read more
Kanu Nwankwo Biography The Kanu Nwankwo Biography: He Scored With a Broken Heart and Saved Hundreds of Children Kanu Nwankwo scored twice in four minutes against Brazil to win Olympic gold for Nigeria in 1996 — then discovered his heart had been defective the entire time. Inter Milan’s president paid for the surgery. Kanu came … Read more
Jean-Pierre Adams Biography The Jean-Pierre Adams Biography: He Never Came Back and His Wife Never Left. Jean-Pierre Adams was one of France’s finest defenders — born in Senegal, raised in France, 22 caps for Les Bleus, half of the celebrated Black Guard partnership. On March 17, 1982, he went into hospital for a routine knee … Read more
The Tegla Loroupe Biography: She Ran Barefoot to School and Set World Records. Tegla Loroupe was one of 25 children in a West Pokot village, ran 10km barefoot to school daily, became the first African woman to win the New York Marathon, held the world marathon record, then spent her prize money building peace schools … Read more
Natalia Partyka Biography The Natalia Partyka Biography: She Plays Both the Olympics and the Paralympics Natalia Partyka was born without a right hand and forearm, began playing table tennis at seven with her sister in Gdansk, became the world’s youngest Paralympian at eleven, the youngest Paralympic champion at fifteen, and the first table tennis player … Read more
Phiona Mutesi Biography The Phiona Mutesi Biography: She Just Wanted to Eat and Disney Made Her a Queen Phiona Mutesi walked into a church in Katwe, Uganda at nine years old because it offered free porridge. She found chess instead. She won national titles, represented Uganda at five Chess Olympiads, became a Disney film, a … Read more