The Struggle for Canadian Sport adds to our understanding of the material and social conditions under which people created and elaborated sports and the contested ideological terrain on which sports were played and interpreted.
From the rural back roads near his home on the Six Nations Reserve to the track of a crowd-packed Madison Square Garden, Tom Longboat raced his way to fame as the greatest distance runner Canada has even known The tall Onondaga athlete captured the hearts of racing fans everywhere during the early years of the twentieth century He was a courageous competitor and served his country during World War I as a dispatch runner, taking messages from post to post under difficult and dangerous conditions Longboat's amazing career as world champion long-distance runner included spectacular races in Canada, the 1907 Boston Marathon, the 1908 Olympic Marathon, and many one-on-one races with the world's top professional runners Thousands would gather to watch the famous Canadian shatter records Yet for all his fame and excellence, Tom Longboat had to struggle against the vicious racism of his age In his biography of Longboat, long-distance runner Bruce Kidd gives an insider's view of the life of a great athlete in the context of Canadian social history
Focusing on the work of scholar-activist Bruce Kidd, this book explores the intersection of sport and politics, particularly within the Canadian sport system and the Olympic Movement. It highlights Kidd's insights and contributions, examining how sports can influence societal change and the political implications of athletic participation.
In this autobiography of a former Olympian and leader in sport history, Bruce Kidd details why sports are important to him, what he's learned from them, and why he continues to fight to make them more equitable.