Gwen Jorgensen became the first American to win a gold medal in the triathlon at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Her mother, Nancy, and sister, Liz, wrote about her inspiring journey in their book, Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete. The book targets an important gap for middle grade nonfiction books–especially the importance of telling heroic stories about women and mothers achieving great big dreams. Jim was excited to sit down with Liz and Nancy, both veteran educators themselves, to talk about the book and why it’s such a great story for classrooms and sports teams. If you’re looking for your next fantastic nonfiction unit, this episode is for you!
Buy the book on Amazon: Gwen Jorgensen: USA's First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete
Link to purchased signed copies: https://www.booksco.com/signed-copy-gwen-jorgensen
Free educator guide:
https://download.m-m-sports.com/extras/GwenJorgensen/Teacher_Guide.pdf
For author visits, email nancy.l.jorgensen@gmail.com or elizabeth.jorgensen@gmail.com
Want to be featured on the next episode? You can leave us an audio message:
Thanks to Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music. Thanks to Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden. Thanks to Courtney Milavec for graphic design.
Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.
Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro.
Email thoughts to thebrokencopier@substack.com.
Thanks for listening!
Gwen Won Gold