Fire on the Track tells the story of Betty Robinson, the first ever women’s gold medalist athletics at the Olympic games, and some of her fellow pioneering female Olympians. Robinson won gold in the 100m sprint in Amsterdam in 1928 at the age of just 16, in only her 3rd ever race at the distance, and 4th race at any distance.
The first women participated in the Olympic games in Paris in 1900, and even then they were only allowed to participate in “safe” events like lawn tennis and golf. The 1928 games was the first Olympics that women were allowed to compete in the track and field events. Many feared that women participating in track and field events would either deem them unattractive to men or actually turn them into men so its inclusion was still heavily disputed among officials. Coverage of the events, especially the 800m, focussed heavily on the toil the race took on the athletes rather than the race itself.
As well as Betty Robinson there are several other prevalent female track athletes covered. These names included: Polish-American Stella Walsh, Texan Babe Didrikson, the first African-American female to compete in the Olympics, Tidye Pickett, and young Helen Stephens.
Overall I found the story quite interesting but the writing style wasn’t my cup of tea. It was written with an overly novelistic flair and at times I felt the author presumed too much as to what the inner thoughts of the various protagonists were. It felt like a cross between biography and novel which always feels problematic to me as it blurs the line between fact and possible fiction. If you approach the book as a fictionalized retelling it might be more palatable. While the story was gripping, I ultimately struggled to finish it due to the style.
As I read this book, it really struck me how few of the sports books I’ve read relate to women’s sport. I’m struggling to think of any others that I have actually read – and I’ve read a lot! I’ve read great sports books written by women – none more so than Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand – and books about how sportsmen mistreat women – like the very interesting Night Games by Anna Krien – but very little about women athletes or players. It’s been an interesting realisation for me and I’d appreciate any recommendations for good sports books about women athletes that I have overlooked.
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