Todd Cleveland is a distinguished professor of history at the University of Arkansas. His books include these Ohio University Press titles: Sports in Africa, Past and Present (2020), Following the Ball: The Migration of African Soccer Players across the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1949–1975 (2017), Diamonds in the Rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917–1975 (2015), and Stones of Contention: A History of Africa's Diamonds (2014).

Meticulously researched, highly readable and clearly argued, Africa and the Olympics steps past Africa’s domination of distance running to explore the multifarious ways Africans engage with the games. African colonies and states used the games to push decolonization, engender national pride and dignity, and demonstrate continental solidarity in the struggle against racism. African olympians parlay participation to improve personal circumstances and to effect social change through charitable initiatives and foundations. Africa and the Olympics is a clever analysis of Africans winning-beyond the podium. - Douglas Booth, University of Otago The history of sport in Africa is an area of research filled with gaping holes, and Todd Cleveland's work will doubtless be used and cited by historians, Olympic scholars, and students. On top of that the text is very well written; I breezed through it. - Toby C. Rider, California State University, Fullerton Todd Cleveland's Africa and the Olympics is an outstanding, accessible account of African Olympic history that chronicles not only the lives of athletes who emerged as superstars on the greatest stage in sport but also officials’ and activists’ achievement of non-sporting, political victories through their engagement with the Olympic movement. This book is a must-read! - Michelle M. Sikes, Pennsylvania State University A superb book, well researched, and clearly argued. Cleveland has effectively and convincingly placed Africa as an integral part in the history of the Olympic movement, a premier platform of local and international politics. - Antonio Sotomayor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsSummer Olympic Games by Year and LocationIntroductionAfrica’s Engagement with the Olympic Games1African Colonies and Newly Independent Countries at the Olympic GamesSimulating Independence and Fostering National Unity, 1920–19682Isolating RacismAfrican Contributions to South Africa’s Olympic Ban3Africa ProtestsCombatting Racial Injustice via Olympic Boycotts 4Parlaying Individual Olympic Success into Positive Change on the Continent5The Olympic Games and Personal Improvement StrategiesNotesBibliographyIndex

Todd Cleveland is a distinguished professor of history at the University of Arkansas. His books include these Ohio University Press titles: Sports in Africa, Past and Present (2020), Following the Ball: The Migration of African Soccer Players across the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1949–1975 (2017), Diamonds in the Rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917–1975 (2015), and Stones of Contention: A History of Africa's Diamonds (2014).

Meticulously researched, highly readable and clearly argued, Africa and the Olympics steps past Africa’s domination of distance running to explore the multifarious ways Africans engage with the games. African colonies and states used the games to push decolonization, engender national pride and dignity, and demonstrate continental solidarity in the struggle against racism. African olympians parlay participation to improve personal circumstances and to effect social change through charitable initiatives and foundations. Africa and the Olympics is a clever analysis of Africans winning-beyond the podium. - Douglas Booth, University of Otago The history of sport in Africa is an area of research filled with gaping holes, and Todd Cleveland's work will doubtless be used and cited by historians, Olympic scholars, and students. On top of that the text is very well written; I breezed through it. - Toby C. Rider, California State University, Fullerton Todd Cleveland's Africa and the Olympics is an outstanding, accessible account of African Olympic history that chronicles not only the lives of athletes who emerged as superstars on the greatest stage in sport but also officials’ and activists’ achievement of non-sporting, political victories through their engagement with the Olympic movement. This book is a must-read! - Michelle M. Sikes, Pennsylvania State University A superb book, well researched, and clearly argued. Cleveland has effectively and convincingly placed Africa as an integral part in the history of the Olympic movement, a premier platform of local and international politics. - Antonio Sotomayor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsSummer Olympic Games by Year and LocationIntroductionAfrica’s Engagement with the Olympic Games1African Colonies and Newly Independent Countries at the Olympic GamesSimulating Independence and Fostering National Unity, 1920–19682Isolating RacismAfrican Contributions to South Africa’s Olympic Ban3Africa ProtestsCombatting Racial Injustice via Olympic Boycotts 4Parlaying Individual Olympic Success into Positive Change on the Continent5The Olympic Games and Personal Improvement StrategiesNotesBibliographyIndex