Book cover for The Best: How Elite Athletes are Made by Mark Williams and Tim Wigmore

The Best

How Elite Athletes are Made

2020 Released
256 Pages
7-8 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
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Nicholas BrealeyISBN 9781529355789


THE SECRETS OF SUPERHUMAN PERFORMANCE

Never have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us, their prowess so unfathomable. So how are these extraordinary athletes made?

THE BEST reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world get to the top and stay there. It is a unique look at the path to sporting greatness; a story of origins, practice, genetics and psychology.

Packed with gripping personal stories and interviews with top athletes including Elena Delle Donne, Pete Sampras, Joey Votto, Steph Curry, Kurt Warner and Premier League superstars Marcus Rashford and Jamie Carragher, it explains how the best athletes develop the extraordinary skills that allow them to perform remarkable feats under extreme pressure.

THE BEST uncovers startling truths of athletic greatness-including why younger siblings have more chance of becoming elite, which towns produce the most superstars, the role of informal play and the best time to be born in the school year. It goes inside the minds of champions to understand what makes them perform during high-octane competition, how to hit a baseball or tennis ball in under 0.5 seconds, the secrets of how the best train and what makes a great leader.

The book appeals to all lovers of sport, anyone with an interest in psychology and excellence, the parents of budding athletes, and fans of books like Freakonomics, Outliers and Range. It is a deconstruction of what it takes to be the best-and how we can all improve in sport and beyond.

Tim Wigmore

Tim Wigmore is the author of Crickonomics- a Waterstones sports book of the Year-and Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, which won the Wisden Book of the Year and Daily Telegraph Cricket Book of the Year in 2020. He is a sports writer for the Daily Telegraph, and has also written for The Economist, The New York Times, ESPNCricinfo and The New Statesman.

Test Cricket was the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, in 2025. It was also shortlisted for The Cricket Society MCC Awards and The Sports Book Awards for best cricket book of the year in 2026.

More by Tim Wigmore

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