Above and Beyond: Tim Mack, the Pole Vault, and the Quest for Olympic Gold »

"In 2004 this young athlete won the Olympic gold medal for pole vaulting. His jump of 19 feet 6% inches was not only Tim Mack's personal best but the highest in Olympic history." Award-winning sports columnist Bill Livingston follows Mack as he practices one of the world's most dangerous and demanding sports. livingston reveals the fascinating subculture of pole vaulting-from Bob Richards, the only man to win Olympic gold twice in pole vaulting; to Sergey Bubka, the most controversial polevaulter ever; to Don Bragg, a rowdy Tarzan-like character who swung on ropes in his backyard to build upper-body strength; to the stirring duel between Mack and Toby Stevenson as they battled for gold in Athens. Readers will discover how Mack struggled and endured, while working in a factory, as a mascot in a bumblebee costume, and as a janitor, and how Mack changed his training and revamped his body and mind in a three-year program that made his AOL user name, Goldnathens, a selffulfilling prophecy.

Preface Harrison Dillard Dillard, Harrison Introduction Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Schemes
1 Dark Horse 1
2 Daredevils 17
3 The Persistent Pupil 36
4 Danger 49
5 The M&D Track Club 65
6 Altius 83
7 The Birdman 99
8 "Crash" Course 116
9 Dreams 132 Afterword Harry "Butch" Reynolds Reynolds, Harry "Butch" 157 Glossary 158