A Lifetime in a Race [Hardcover]

Matthew Pinsent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2005

With his last-gasp victory as part of the Great British coxless four team at the Athens Olympics, Matthew Pinsent clinched an historic fourth Olympic Gold to add to the three already won with his legendary rowing partner Steve Redgrave. In an uniquely exciting and evocative autobiography, Pinsent interweaves the build-up to Athens 2004 with the extraordinary story of his career and unforgettable partnership with Redgrave. Plucked from obscurity at the age of 20, told to partner his hero, and trained to within an inch of his life, Pinsent's story is uniquely revealing about what it takes to be a champion and the mixed blessings of success. Culminating with a nail-biting final chapter detailing the team's extraordinary victory in Athens in blow-by-blow detail, A Lifetime in a Race is a sports book in a different mould.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A very honest book - not in a sensational way - but more revealing in the realities of training, competing and racing ... Extremely enjoyable', Daily Telegraph .'A good book, well-written, informative, engaging, revealing ... The insights Pinsent brings to his sport are worth the price alone', Sunday Times .'Pinsent is a person of many talents. One of them is writing an autobiography', The Times .'Pinsent tells his own story in A Lifetime in a Race, and tells it truthfully. ...This is another tale that rips off the page and says big, powerful things about sport, and about the frailties of big, powerful men', The Times .'The most insightful of the post Olympic books in which the super-human rower demonstrates a reflectiveness that is rare among sportspeople ... He writes superbly', Independent on Sunday .'A gripping account of his life and most recent times. He deftly conveys the sheer effort needed to survive the brutal training regimes in top-level rowing, as well as the obsessive intensity that brought him his Olympic haul', Independent .'I much enjoyed Matthew Pinsent's A lifetime in a Race, partly because he wrote it himself, partly because he turned out to be such a likeable and interesting guy, and partly because it gently taught me a great deal about rowing', John Gaustad, Evening Standard .'An honest and evocative read which details how winning a gold medal takes much more than 'merely' winning a final', Daily Mail .'Good looking, rich, a sublimely talented athlete and an excellent writer ... an incredible story adeptly told', Scotland on Sunday --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Matthew Pinsent started rowing at school in 1983, less than a decade later he won his first gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, with Steve Redgrave in the coxless pair. Together they defended their gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In Sydney 2000 they changed to a coxless four and won another gold. In Athens 2004, this time without Redgrave, Matthew won his fourth gold. Matthew has also won 10 gold World Championship medals. He was awarded the MBE in 1993 and CBE in 2001. He writes for the Time and, Racing News and is sponsored by Camelot, Marks and Spencer and Rover cars. He was educated at Eton and Oxford and lives in Henley and London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ebury Press; First Edition edition (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0091901499
• ISBN-13: 978-0091901493
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,599,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, August 22, 2006

By 

Joseph M. Deleo - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Lifetime in a Race (Hardcover)

This book isn't a biography at all. It covers Pinsent's career of rowing from his teenage years where he first began to his 4th Olympic Gold. Considering it was a decent sized book I got through it in about a week or so. A very enjoyable read and something rowers will love. Right up there with Assault and the Amateurs.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars From a rower's perspective, not so great, November 4, 2007

By 

J. Burns Jr. (Farfield, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Lifetime in a Race (Paperback)

There are some very good segments in Matthew Pinsent's autobiography, A Lifetime in Race, particularly his rower's-eye-view of the Olympics. Unfortunately, while these bits made for an interesting excerpt in Rowing News, they don't really justify a whole book. The pacing and style of the prose bothered me enough that I probably wouldn't recommend the book to someone who didn't already have an interest in British Olympic Rowing.