Reflections on a Life in Sport

(Cape Town: Greenhouse, 2004). 8vo; original black boards; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. (iv) + xv + (i) + 168, incl. index; photographic plates, largely in full colour. Dustwrapper very slightly edgeworn. Very good condition. "Few South Africans have aroused greater emotions than Sam Ramsamy. Born and bred in a working-class Indian settlement in Durban, he trained as a teacher and made his name as a successful coach in both swimming and professional football. Then, aged 34, pursued by security police, he fled into exile. He mobilised the international isolation of apartheid sport from his flat in London, becoming at once a hero of the liberation struggle for many black South Africans and Public Enemy Number One for many whites. In 1991, he returned home, played a leading role in the unity process and was elected as President of NOCSA, the National Olympic Committee of South Africa. With care and expertise, he has directed the nation's rehabilitation into the Olympic movement, and personally developed Operation Excellence, the programme that supports and sustains South Africa's Olympic medallists. Elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1995, he is recognised around the world as a sports leader of courage and integrity." .