For the Glory: Two Olympics, Two Wars, Two Heroes

For The Glory is the true story of Babe Slater and Rudy Scholz, opposites in many ways, who starred in the US Olympic rugby teams that shocked the world by winning gold medals at the Antwerp Games of 1920 and the Paris Games of 1924. It required nerve for quiet farmer Babe to return to Belgium just two years after witnessing the horrors of World War One there. Rudy had been desperate to play a part in that war but had missed out on the action. There was more frustration for little Scholz, by now a silver-tongued lawyer, when gentle giant Slater was elected 1924 US rugby captain ahead of him. Rudy didn't even want to play in the Paris showdown against the French favourites at the so-called 'Chariots of Fire' games. What happened to bring Rudy back into line just before the French turned the 1924 Olympic final into a bloody riot? How did Scholz cope when he was finally confronted by the horrors of war on Okinawa during World War Two, and how did he manage to play rugby until he was 83? Read about the extraordinary experiences of Rudy and Babe, then decide for yourself where the glory lies - in sport or war. Mark Ryan is a writer and sports journalist.
His books include Justine Henin: From Tragedy to Triumph and Fabio Capello: The Man, The Dream, The Inside Story, both published by JR Books, as well as The Hornet's Sting: The Amazing Untold Story of Second World War Spy Thomas Sneum.