Dedication
For all who support young athletes, no matter the time of day, weather, location, or score
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Historical Note
Part 1: July 1928–December 1929
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Part 2: July 1931–December 1932
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Part 3: March 1933–June 1936
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Part 4: July–August 1936
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Afterword
Acknowledgments
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*
About the Author
About the Book
Praise
Also by Elise Hooper
Copyright
About the Publisher
Historical Note
During the 1920s and ’30s, “athletics” referred to track and field events, but given that this word has expanded over the years to include many different types of sporting events, the modern label of “track and field” is used throughout this novel.
All newspaper stories, letters, telegrams, and memos in this book have been created by the author and reflect the language and attitudes used to describe women athletes during their era.
Part 1July 1928–December 1929
1.
July 1928
New York City
BEFORE THEY LEFT THE PRINCE GEORGE HOTEL, BETTY’S mother warned her to be careful aboard the steamship and avoid the girls from California. Apparently they were a loose set, something to do with year-round sun and mild temperatures softening one’s moral fiber. Up until that point Betty had only been half listening, but now she perked to attention. A roommate from some glamorous-sounding location like Santa Monica or Santa Barbara—wouldn’t that be a lark? With a series of decisive clicks, Betty fastened the latches closed on her suitcase and started for the door. Maybe if she was lucky, some of those objectionable girls from California would be her cabinmates aboard the S.S. President Roosevelt.
Minutes later, Betty and her mother, Mrs. Robinson, sat in the back of a taxicab on their way to Pier 86. A heat wave had been pressing over New York City for a week, and Betty fanned herself while her mother fussed with their taxicab driver over the best route to take. Traffic clogged the street and newspaperboys hawked their wares, bobbing from one stopped vehicle to the next. Their driver bought one and rested it against the steering wheel, studying the headlines.
“Are you sure this is the fastest way?” Betty’s mother huffed.
“Ma’am, if there was a faster one, we’d be taking it, I promise. Now pray to the Virgin Mary that my engine doesn’t overheat.” He crossed himself.
As if on cue, the automobile shuddered and her mother inhaled sharply. “Pray all you want, but my daughter simply cannot be late. She’s on the Olympic team set to depart for Amsterdam at noon.”
“That so?” He turned around to inspect Betty.
“Please, sir, keep your eyes on the road,” her mother said.
“But we’re not moving.”
Her mother folded her arms across her chest. “So I noticed.”
“I didn’t realize there were lady Olympians.”
“This is the first year women will be competing in running events,” her mother said, and though she still sounded annoyed with the man, the unmistakable pride in her voice made Betty sit straighter.
“Running doesn’t seem like a very ladylike business. Aren’t you worried she’ll become a bit manly if she keeps this up?” he asked, squinting at her from under the rim of his porkpie hat. “I could see encouraging rowing. Builds up the chest, you know.” He smirked.
“What an absurd notion, and anyway, she’s not running the marathon or undertaking anything too dangerous. She’s a sprinter.”
“If you say so,” said the driver, cracking his knuckles. Clearly, he was enjoying rankling her mother, and Betty hid her glee by turning to gaze at the throngs of people on the sidewalks. Heat rippled in the air above the pavement.
“Here we are,” the driver said, nosing his taxicab into a line of vehicles at the edge of the road. Band music floated over the crowd. When he opened the door, Betty paused on the running board, tenting her hand to study the S.S. President Roosevelt in the distance.
Red, white, and blue bunting decorated the ship’s decks, and its brass railings gleamed to a high shine, but it looked awfully small, its proportions unbalanced, especially when compared with the majestic vessels gracing neighboring piers. It appeared Betty’s journey was to begin with a steamship better suited to pleasure cruising in New York Harbor than the far more serious task of transporting America’s Olympic team across the Atlantic.
Betty reached for the U.S. Olympic Team pass dangling around her neck and wrapped her fingers around it, taking comfort in the solidity of the thick card stock. None of this was a dream. Only several months earlier, the boys’ track team coach spotted her sprinting for the train, and now here she was in New York City, a member of the inaugural women’s track and field team bound for the Amsterdam Olympics. A flutter of anticipation surged through her.
“Never thought I’d live to see the day when lady runners would compete in the Olympics,” the driver muttered, shaking his head as he fetched Betty’s suitcase from the trunk of the taxicab. He straightened and searched their surroundings. “Now, where’s a porter who can take this?”
Betty reached for the luggage, but the man shook his head. “Aww, miss, you’re a wee thing. Let’s put a porter to work.”
“I can do it.”
“Impatient, are you?” He shrugged and placed it in front of her.
Betty leaned into the vehicle where her mother sat. “Well, this is it, Mother. So long. I’ll be sure to write.” They embraced. When Betty pried herself free from her mother, her voile blouse stuck to her damp back.
“Make us all proud, dear.”
“I will. Look for me in the newspapers,” she said, winking.
Mother shook her head, but Betty detected a softening in her expression. Mother had always been a staunch believer that a woman’s name should appear in the papers only when she married and when she died, but since Betty’s success
