Their Greatest Victory

This book profiles 24 athletes who overcame seemingly insurmountable medical odds to attain athletic success. Each profile describes the athlete’s problem, the medical issues he or she faced, how success was achieved despite the setback, and the personal qualities that helped the athlete to prevail. Part I features 15 athletes who dealt with diseases and physical disabilities, including Babe Didrikson Zaharias (cancer), Ron Santo (diabetes), Gail Devers (Graves’ disease), Alonzo Mourning (kidney disease), Wilma Rudolph (polio), Scott Hamilton (a pancreatic disorder in childhood) and Jimmy Abbott (born with one hand). Part II highlights nine athletes who dealt with ­near-­fatal or ­life-­changing accidents and injuries, including Bill Toomey, ­Three-­Finger Brown, Greg LeMond, Lou Brissie and Tommy John.

David L. Porter is Louis Tuttle Shangle Professor of History at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He is author and editor of numerous books on American sports history.

David L. Porter

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 304
Bibliographic Info: 52 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7305-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0247-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii

Preface 1

Part I. Diseases and Physical Disabilities 3

Cancer 3

Jeff Blatnick 3

Jon Lester 12

Babe Didrikson Zaharias 22

Diabetes 33

Gary Hall Jr. 33

Ron Santo 42

Other Debilitating Diseases 55

Gail Devers 55

Alice Marble 66

Alonzo Mourning 76

Wilma Rudolph 86

Childhood Illnesses 97

Scott Hamilton 97

Bobby Jones 108

Doris Hart 118

Physical Disabilities 127

Jim Abbott 127

Dummy Hoy 136

Harry Greb 143

Part II. Accidents and Injuries 153

Accidents 153

Glenn Cunningham 153

Bill Toomey 165

Three-­Finger Brown 174

Mike Burton 184

Ben Hogan 191

Greg LeMond 202

Injuries 213

Lou Brissie 213

Rocky Bleier 222

Tommy John 233

Conclusion: Qualities of Those Who Triumphed Over Adversity 245

Notes 251

Bibliography 271

Index 279