The book continues the tradition of Estonian sports literature that began with the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The book is published in cooperation with the Estonian Olympic Committee, the editor-in-chief is Ott Järvela, and the authors of the book include sports journalists as well as several sports specialists.
Decathlete Janek Õiglane, who finished fifth at the Paris Olympics, is opening a new chapter in his sports career as he steps up as one of the writers.
"When the offer was made, I had to consider it for a moment, but I gladly accepted it. It's cool that this extremely emotional competition is graved into the Olympic book,“ he said.
In addition to Õiglane, the book's cover features the most
successful Estonian athlete at the Paris Olympics, epee fencer Nelli Differt,
who came in fourth place in the women's epee individual tournament. “I was very sad
about my competition but the fact that I am on the book's cover shows that it
was a significant result for the Estonian people and Estonian sports. The
Olympic books are important in our family, they are in my room at my parents’
house. The Paris Olympic book will go there too,” she said.
The editor-in-chief of the Olympic book is sports journalist Ott Järvela, who says that the book contains the most important stories of Estonian and international athletes.
"The Olympic book is a unique genre in the world. It is not known that this type of work would be published in any other country. The specificity of the genre lies in the fact that it must speak to the reader a few months after the Olympics as well as 10, 20 or 50 years later. I do not want the Olympic book to be boring. It must truly capture the character of the Olympics,“ says Järvela, who has worked as the editor-in-chief of the Olympic book for the second time.
Photos: Hendrik Osula / Team Estonia, Karli Saul / Team Estonia
More photos of the book presentation can be found here.