Heavy Metal cover art

Heavy Metal

Women, Weightlifting and the Fight for the Olympics

Audible Premium Plus 30-day free trial

Pre-order free with Premium Plus
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Heavy Metal

By: Conor Heffernan
Pre-order free with Premium Plus

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Pre-order for $32.05

Pre-order for $32.05

Season's Savings | $0.99/mo for 3 months

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo. after 3 months - terms apply.
For more than a century, weightlifting was one of the last Olympic sports closed to women – but they refused to stay out.

Heavy Metal tells the gripping true story of how women fought their way into elite strength sport, transforming garages, basements and local gyms into training grounds for a global movement. From circus strongwomen and mid-century fitness pioneers to the athletes and organisers who staged the first competitions, this is a story of persistence against medical warnings, cultural stigma and institutional resistance.

Drawing on rare archives and first-hand interviews, Conor Heffernan reveals how grassroots activism forced the International Weightlifting Federation and the International Olympic Committee to finally recognise women’s lifting. Along the way, the book explores bigger questions about gender, power and the body – from Cold War politics and doping scandals to debates about femininity and fairness that still resonate today.

Fast-paced, surprising and deeply human, Heavy Metal is essential reading for anyone interested in the hidden histories of sport and the women who changed it forever.
Bodybuilding & Strength Training Gender Studies Olympics & Paralympics Social Sciences Women
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.