A Medal of Honor: An Insider Unveils the Agony and the Ecstasy of the Olympic Dream

by John Morton

Book Overview

From his hometown in Vermont, to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, to Native villages in Alaska, Matt Johnson pursues his dream of competing in the Olympics. After dirty tricks by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1929401043
• ISBN13: 9781929401048
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Discover History
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Read it, ESPECIALLY if your a skiier

This is a beautiful book, showing the ins and outs of being an olympic skiier, which started as a dream for the main character, and turned into reality. It is written with skill, showing that the author knows what he is talking about. John Morton takes you to the Olympics showing exactly what it's all about. Just as the title says, an insider unveils the agony and the ecstasy of the Olympic dream. The skiing scenes are exciting, and it depicts skiing well. As a skiier, I really liked this book, and I know lots of other people who did too! A young man named Matthew Johnson driven by the memory of his fathers dream of making a medal at the olympics, trains extensively, and is able to make the olympic team. He has his good races and the bad, while trying to console his mother who is home with a sister that seems unable to stay out of trouble. Finally, when it comes down to the final race in the olympics, will he be able to help the team make a medal, or will he turn to a greater immediate cause?

bob burnham, MA - Great Book/Oympics/Skiing/Thriller

My wife started the book before me and she stayed up most of the night reading it. I finished it a few days later. The book gives the real perspective of what really goes on in search of the Olympic dream from the perspective of the athelete. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who yearns to learn more about skiing or the Olympics than the pre-packaged made for TV bunk we have to live with every 4 years from the major networks. John Morton has seen it all and gives us a thrilling insite and fun story that makes reading the book real pleasure.

An exciting story of a young man's quest to be a man.

This book kept me up late reading to find out what would happen next to young Matt in his quest for personal excellence and Olympic glory. It was great to have a real authority on the world of Olympic sports give the inside view of what it's like to train for elite competition. I'm short on sleep, but very happy that I took the time to read this book. I was entertained, but I also learned a great deal about the life of top athletes and it made me think about what sacrifices are reasonable to be the best and which ones are evil. I highly recommend this book.

Accurate, in-depth, current story of complex Olympic sport

As a former Olympic teammate of the author's (1972 and 1976 Biathlon), and as a co-coach during the Winter Olympics in 1992, I can attest to the accuracy, detail, tension, intrigue, and multiple levels of story presented in this book. A sports minded reader will find this tale hard to leave once started; I read the book in one sitting. A reader unfamiliar with high level 'amateur' sport may be startled by some of the mini-stories included. However, I assure such readers they are quite true. Olympic sports are not quite what we Americans see on the national networks. A must read book.

Inspiring Tale of a Young Olympic Skier's Upward Challenges

An inspiring fictional account of a young biathalon skier's rise to fame from rural Vermont to the Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway. Describes the physical, emotional and moral struggles confronting young athletes and the choices that they must make. Highest recommendations for anyone interested in the team dynamics of organized, world class sports--especially those interested in the grueling endurance and mental focus demanded of biathalon athletes. Morton, a six time Olympic Winter Sport team member and former men's ski coach at Dartmouth College knows the inside story of the Olympic competitive mystic and spins a credible and compelling yarn of the ups and downs, the heart-throbs and heart-aches of the Olympic athlete's life. A must read!!!