Summer Olympics LEVELED BOOK • O

Legends Summer
Olympics
A Reading A–Z Level O Leveled Book

Legends
Word Count: 748

Written by Jeffrey B. Fuerst

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 Summer
Photo Credits:
Front cover: © Diether Endlicher/AP Images; back cover: © Topham/The Image
Works; title page: © ArtToday; page 3: © Dreamstime.com; pages 4, 7, 12: © AP

Olympics
Images; page 5: © Rue des Archives/The Granger Collection, NYC; page 6: ©
Keystone Pictures USA/Alamy; page 9: © Lennox McLendon/AP Images; page 10:

Legends
© Maurice Branger/Roger-Viollet/The Image Works: page 11: © Illustrated London
News Ltd/Mary Evans Picture Library; page 13 (top): © Jupiterimages Corporation;
page 13 (bottom): © REUTERS/Gary Hershorn; page 14: © Aflo Foto Agency/Alamy;
page 15: © Eileen Langsley Gymnastics/Alamy

Written by Jeffrey B. Fuerst Summer Olympics Legends

Level O Leveled Book Correlation
© Learning A–Z LEVEL O
Written by Jeffrey B. Fuerst
Fountas & Pinnell M
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 20
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DRA 28
 Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Shoeless Wonder: Abebe Bikila . . . . . . . 5 Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman lights the Olympic Torch in the
2000 games.

Golden Boy: Mark Spitz . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Introduction
Decathlon Double: Daley Thompson . . 8
Sports fans the world over gear up for
Super Mom: Fanny Blankers-Koen . . . 11 the Summer Olympics every four years.
Everyone’s Darling: In modern Olympics, more than 10,000
Nadia Comaneci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 athletes from 200 countries compete in
300 events. Athletes run, jump, swim,
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 and much more to win gold, silver, and
bronze medals. Some athletes may earn
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
a place in the record books. A few may
even join the ranks of these Summer
Olympics legends.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 3 4

Shoeless Wonder: The marathon race at the 1960
Abebe Bikila Olympics was unforgettable. Abebe
(1932–1973) Bikila was in second place with less than
Marathon a mile to go. Then he pulled away and
Ethiopia won by 200 meters. Plus, he set an
Olympic record—running barefoot!
On your mark,
Bikila trained by running barefoot over
get set, go! The
the countryside of Ethiopia, a country in
Olympic marathon
Africa. Shoes, he said, hurt his feet.
starts like any
other race. But in Four years later, Bikila won the
the marathon, marathon again. This time he wore socks
runners go, go, and shoes and set a new world record.
and keep going!
The marathon is a
long-distance race.
Bikila runs barefoot.
It is 26 miles
(42 km) long.

You could probably walk 26 miles in

about eight hours, plus time for breaks.
Marathon runners cover 26 miles in a
little over two hours, and they don’t
take breaks. Bikila won his second Olympics marathon in Tokyo, Japan, just six weeks
after doctors removed his appendix.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 5 6

 At the 1972 games, Mark Spitz did
not brag. He entered four individual
swimming races, including his specialty
stroke, the butterfly. He also swam in
three team relay races. Spitz won seven
gold medals, an Olympic record. Plus,
he set new world records in every race.
Now that is something to brag about.

Decathlon Double:
Mark Spitz was named World Athlete of the Year in 1972.
Daley Thompson (1958–)
Decathlon
Golden Boy: United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Mark Spitz (1950–) Daley Thompson was one of the best
Swimming of the best. He won the decathlon in
USA 1980. Then, in 1984, he won it again.
The dark-haired swimmer with the He is only the second person in the
mustache bragged he would win six history of the Olympics to win the
gold medals at the 1968 Olympics. He decathlon twice. In 1988, at the ripe
ended up winning two gold, one silver, “old” age of 30, he still performed well
and one bronze medal. Quite a feat! But enough to come in fourth place in
it was not good enough for Mark Spitz. sports’ most grueling event.
He trained hard for the next four years.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 7 8

Decathlon athletes, or “decathletes,” Most Olympic athletes
may be the best all-around athletes. train hours a day, for
They run fast for sprinting and hurdling years, to excel in just
races. They have endurance for longer one event. They train
races. They are strong enough to throw for either track
the javelin, discus, and shot put. (running) or field
Decathletes can long jump, high jump, (throwing and
and pole vault. jumping), but
athletes who
compete in the
decathlon must
train for ten
different events.

Jim Thorpe:
Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century
Jim Thorpe (1888–1953) was a well-known Native American
college football hero when he entered the 1912 Summer
Olympics. He won the ten-event decathlon. He also won the
five-event pentathlon. He set world records that lasted for many
years in both of these difficult and demanding events.
Thompson flies through the air during the long jump.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 9 10

 By the next Olympics in 1948, Fanny
Blankers-Koen was 30. She was married
and the mother of two children. She was
also determined. People told her to stay
home with her family—she didn’t listen.
FPO Instead, she won the 100-meter, 200-meter,
and 100-meter relay races. She also won
the 80-meter hurdles. No woman had
Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals in one Summer
holds her daughter
after the 1948 Olympics before.
Olympic Games.

Super Mom: Fanny Blankers-Koen Many people thought Fanny could have
(1918–2004) won six gold medals. At that time, she
Sprinter/Jumper held the world record in the long jump
Netherlands and high jump. But Olympic rules then
did not let women enter more than three
At the 1936 Olympics, 18-year-old individual events.
Fanny Koen came in a disappointing
sixth place in the high jump. She
knew she would do better next time. Blankers-Koen
competes in the
Unfortunately, she had to wait 12 years 80-meter hurdles
in London during
for her chance. The Olympics were not the 1948
Olympics.
held in 1940 or 1944 because of World
War II.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 11 12

 Everyone’s Darling:
Nadia Comaneci
(1961–)
Gymnast
Romania

The crowd at the

1976 Olympics
roared with delight.
Jesse Owens and
Carl Lewis A little 14-year-old
Super-speedsters girl in a ponytail
Jesse Owens (above) showed unusual
and Carl Lewis (right)
have also each won four Comaneci competes on the floor grace and agility
exercise.
gold medals in one on the uneven bars.
Olympics. Owens fought
against prejudice at the
Everyone in the audience knew Nadia
1936 Summer Olympics, Comaneci (co-MAN-eech) had done a
proving that what’s
great job.
inside a person, not
skin color, makes a
true champion. How good was she? The scoreboard
showed a 1.0, but that’s because it
wasn’t made to show a 10. She was
perfect! A 10 is the highest score in a
gymnastics event. Never before had
anyone earned a perfect 10.

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 13 14

Nadia continued to charm the judges Glossary
and audience during the Olympic agility  t he ability to move quickly
Games. She scored six more 10s in other and easily (p. 14)
gymnastic events. She won three gold,
endurance  t he ability to continue going
one silver, and one bronze medal. She even when there might be pain
was also named all-around Olympic (p. 9)
champion. excel  t o perform extremely well
(p. 10)
At the 1980 Olympics, Nadia added
two gold and two silver medals to her feat  a n act showing amazing
trophy case. skill (p. 7)

Index
Abebe Bikila,  5, 6 Jesse Owens,  13

Carl Lewis,  13 Jim Thorpe,  10

Cathy Freeman,  4 marathon,  5, 6

Daley Thompson,  8, 9 Mark Spitz,  7, 8

decathlon,  8, 9, 10 Nadia Comaneci,  14, 15

Fanny Blankers- pentathlon,  8

Koen,  11, 12
relay races,  8, 12
gymnastic(s),  14, 15

high jump,  9, 11, 12

Comaneci’s performance on the uneven bars earned her a perfect 10. hurdles,  12

Summer Olympics Legends • Level O 15 16