TY - BOOK AU - Walker, Angela, TI - Ideals are like stars: the Dame Yvette Williams story SN - 9781776890279 AV - GV1073.15.W5 W35 2022 U1 - 796.42 PY - 2022///. CY - Auckland, New Zealand : PB - David Bateman, KW - Williams, Yvette, KW - Track and field athletes KW - New Zealand KW - Biography KW - Broad jump N2 - "The first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic gold medal, a feat not repeated for forty years. Ideals Are Like Stars is the remarkable true story of Yvette Williams, a trailblazing young athlete who defied the odds to win gold in the long jump at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Ignoring the pressure to abandon her dreams and become a housewife, Yvette's sports career is a highlight reel of newly set records which propelled her into the spotlight. Well-known for her rigorous training, down-to-earth nature and sense of humour, Yvette was the epitome of the Kiwi sporting hero; humble, hardworking and dedicated; who won the hearts of the nation. To this day she is regarded as a national treasure and her story is destined to inspire many young Kiwi athletes to follow in her wake. Author Angela Walker has written a remarkably intimate narrative account of the life of one of our nation's finest athletes. Angela, who herself competed at the Olympics (Seoul) 36 years after Yvette, has drawn on never-before-seen diaries, as well as interviews with the late Kiwi icon to recreate the day-to-day world of Yvette on the page. This is a long overdue celebration of an extraordinary sporting life and a highly engaging chronicle of a young woman's quest for excellence."--Publisher's website ER -