Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America's Olympic Champion - Michael Silver

When Natalie Coughlin burst into the world's living rooms in the summer of 2004, twice striking gold in Athens in the midst of the most prolific performance in a single Olympic by any American woman, she looked like the quintessential champion. Beautiful, graceful, intelligent, and engaging, Coughlin parlayed years of painstaking preparation into a glorious burst of achievement and attention." In Golden Girl, Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver tells the story of Natalie's remarkable journey back from the brink. With complete access to Coughlin's family, friends, coaches, teammates, and adversaries, Silver delves into the drama that preceded her world record-setting, five medal-winning effort in Athens: the severe illness she suffered at the 2003 World Championships, causing her to downscale her Olympic plans and generating whispers that she was destined to buckle under pressure, and the hurtful rebukes from jealous teammates aimed at Coughlin during her senior season at Cal, a year which ultimately featured the team coming together to pull out the most emotional victory in school's history.