Alexandra Orlando: In Pursuit Of Victory (Celebrating Canadian Athletes)

Alexandra Orlando: In Pursuit Of Victory, the first book in a new series about Canadian athletes by BookLand Press, is the story of the rhythmic gymnast who set a record by winning six gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in Australia, and now has her sites set on the 2008 Olympic Games. Alex the Great, as she is known to her family, has had the Olympic dream since she was seven and discovered she loved competing in rhythmic gymnastics. She came incredibly close to realizing her dream at the last Olympics, as she was hoping for a spot and then had her hopes taken away by the international politics of the Olympics in her sport. Rhythmic gymnastics is a marriage of music, dance, and gymnastic floor routines using apparatus and it is not nearly as popular in Canada as it is in Europe, where Alexandra Orlando is considered a superstar. Coming from Canada, where her sport is relatively new, Alex has had to overcome incredible odds to join the elite of rhythmic gymnastics internationally. She is the reigning Canadian champion, our national champion for the past five years, and the number one rhythmic gymnast in North America. Alex has overcome her battles with diets and size and is ready to take on the leaders of her sport, who may look too thin to be healthy. Beautiful, strong, with great muscle tone and zero body fat, looking very healthy, from an incredible number of hours training and working out, Alex is ready to take on the world. At 20, she is poised to peak just in time for the next Olympics. She has cracked the top 15 internationally and is moving in on the top ten. Could her pursuit of victory lead to an Olympic medal for Canada in Beijing in 2008?