Three Kings
Race, Class, and the Barrier-Breaking Rivals Who Launched the Modern Olympic Age
by Todd Balf
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini
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Pub Date Jul 02 2024 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
For fans of The Boys in the Boat, and marking the 100th anniversary of the Paris Olympics, the never-before-told story of three athletes who defied the odds to usher in a golden age of sports
Even today, it’s considered one of the most thrilling races in Olympic history. The hundred-meter sprint final at the 1924 Paris Games, featuring three of the world’s fastest swimmers—American legends Duke Kahanamoku and Johnny Weissmuller, and Japanese upstart Katsuo Takaishi—had the cultural impact of other milestone moments in Olympic history: Jesse Owens’s podiums in Berlin and John Carlos’s raised, black-gloved fist in Mexico City. Never before had an Olympic swimming final prominently featured athletes of different races, and never had it been broadcast live. Across the globe, fans held their breath.
In less than a minute, an Olympic record would be shattered, and the three men would be scrutinized like few athletes before them. For the millions worldwide for whom swimming was a complete unknown, the trio did something few could imagine: moving faster through water than many could on land. As sportsmen, they were godlike heroes, embodying the hopes of those who called them their own, in the US and abroad. They personified strength and speed, and the glamour and innovation of the Roaring Twenties. But they also represented fraught assumptions about race and human performance. It was not only “East vs. West”—as newspapers in the 1920s described the competition with Japan—it was also brown versus white. Rich versus poor. New versus old. The race was about far more than swimming.
Each man was a trailblazer and a bona fide celebrity in an age when athletes typically weren’t famous. Kahanamoku was Hawaii’s first superstar, largely responsible for making the state the popular travel destination it is today. Weissmuller, a poor immigrant, put Chicago on the sports map and would make it big as Hollywood’s first Tarzan. Takaishi inspired Japan to compete on the world stage and helped turn its swimmers into Olympic powerhouses. He and Kahanamoku in particular shattered the myth of white superiority when it came to sports, putting the lie to the decade’s burgeoning eugenics movement.
Three Kings traces the careers and rivalries of these men and the epochal times they lived in. The 1920s were transformative, not just socially but for sports as well. For the first time, athletes of color were given a fair (though still not equal) chance, and competition wasn’t limited to the wealthy and privileged. Our modern-day conception of athleticism and competition—especially as it relates to the Olympics—traces back to this era and athletes like Kahanamoku, Weissmuller, and Takaishi, whose hard-won victories paved the way for all who followed.
A Note From the Publisher
Edoardo Ballerini, an American actor, director, film producer, and multiaward–winning narrator. He has won several Audie Awards for best narration, including for 2019’s Best Male Narrator of the Year. He was named by Booklist as winner of their 2023 Voice of Choice Award, and was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. He has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, from classics to modern masters, from bestsellers to the inspirational, from Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners to spine-tingling series, and much more. In television and film, he is best known for his roles in A Murder at the End of the World, The Sopranos, 24, I Shot Andy Warhol, Dinner Rush, and Romeo Must Die. He is also trained in theater and continues to do much work on stage.
Advance Praise
“Three Kings is a look back at a critical Olympic moment that has so much to say about the great struggles of our time. It tells the story of three heroic swimmers battling not just in the pool but also fighting racism, poverty, ostracism, life-threatening illness, and deep personal secrets—only to emerge victorious. This is a narrative about the triumph of the human spirit against all odds—about how ordinary men truly became kings.”
Kevin Baker, author of The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City and Paradise Alley
“Balf provides a tense account of the climactic race…This is worth dipping into.”
Publishers Weekly
Marketing Plan
- New York Times bestselling author
- The incredible true story behind one of the greatest Olympic rivalries of all time
- Beyond the two primary reader targets—general sports audiences and readers of social justice–oriented narrative nonfiction—interest in swimming is a growth trend
- Swimming is the #1 most followed Olympic sport globally; in the US, swimming is the #2 most watched Summer Olympics sport
- The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, which actually took place in 2021, had a global audience of approximately 3.05 billion
- Each Tokyo Olympics broadcast night averaged more viewers than the NBA Finals (Bucks–Suns: 9.91M) and the World Series (Dodgers–Rays: 9.79M)
Available Editions
EDITION | Audiobook, Unabridged |
ISBN | 9798874710330 |
PRICE | $22.95 (USD) |
DURATION | 8 Hours |
Available on NetGalley
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