A gripping and revelatory history that unearths the forgotten stories of trans and intersex athletes who competed in the 1930s, and exposes how their erasure shaped modern sports.
A Lambda Literary Award Finalist that uncovers a forgotten 1930s story: trans and intersex athletes who competed openly, then vanished from history. Michael Waters reveals how the 1936 Berlin Olympics sparked decades of gender policing—and why these buried stories matter urgently today.
$21.00
A Finalist for the 2025 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Nonfiction and the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History. Named one of the Best Books of 2024 by The New Yorker, NPR, and BookPage.
What if the stories we never heard could change how we understand the present? Michael Waters unearths a forgotten chapter of Olympic history that feels startlingly urgent today. In the 1930s, athletes like Zdeněk Koubek and Mark Weston made headlines around the world when they transitioned and lived openly as men. For a brief moment, their courage seemed poised to spark a conversation about gender and sports. Instead, their stories were buried, and what followed was nearly a century of surveillance, bureaucracy, and fear.
The Other Olympians is both a revelation and a reckoning. Waters traces the lives of these pioneering trans and intersex athletes with cinematic detail and meticulous research, pulling their experiences from the shadows of history. He also exposes how the International Olympic Committee’s troubling partnership with Nazi Germany during the 1936 Berlin Games set the stage for decades of rigid, harmful gender policing in athletics.
This is more than a history book. It’s a vital lens for understanding today’s heated debates over gender in sports, a call for compassion, and a reminder that these conversations are nothing new. If you’re drawn to stories of resilience, hidden histories, or the intersection of identity and power, this groundbreaking work belongs on your shelf.
A gripping and revelatory history that unearths the forgotten stories of trans and intersex athletes who competed in the 1930s, and exposes how their erasure shaped modern sports.
Waters has written a meticulously researched and deeply humane book that illuminates a hidden chapter of Olympic history while speaking directly to contemporary debates about gender and sports.
A stunning work of historical recovery that brings forgotten athletes back to life with cinematic detail and compassion. Waters shows us that the debates raging today about trans athletes are far from new.
Michael Waters has excavated a vital and long-suppressed history. The Other Olympians is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how gender policing became embedded in modern sports.
A revelatory and urgent book that connects the past to our present moment with clarity and power. Waters' research is impeccable, his storytelling is compelling.
| Weight | 0.92 lbs |
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| Dimensions | 5.75 × 0.95 × 8.65 in |
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| Subject | Biographies & Memoirs, History, History Of Sports, Lgbtq+ Books, Miscellaneous, Olympic Games, Sports & Outdoors, Women In History, World |
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