Alistair Brownlee's sporting secrets snapped up by HarperColllins

Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee's book Relentless: Secrets of the Sporting Elite has been snapped up by HarperCollins.

Executive publisher Oli Malcolm negotiated world all language rights for HarperNonFiction with Richard Downey at Blue Carpet Management. Relentless will be published on 8th July 2021.

The book follows a four-year quest by Brownlee to discover the secret of "sporting greatness", interviewing and training with some of the greatest minds in sport to discover what it takes to become and remain a champion.

HarperCollins explained: “He’s talked to elite figures across multiple sports – including Chris Froome, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Alastair Cook, Michael Johnson, Adam Peaty, Paula Radcliffe, Ian Poulter, Shane Williams, Ian Botham, Mark Webber, Ian Thorpe and A P McCoy – as well as leading thinkers and scientists, to understand what enabled these remarkable individuals to rise to the very top, and to push the limits of human capability in their relentless pursuit of perfection. Alistair uses these fascinating interviews, along with extensive research, to explore a range of sports and environments – athletics, cycling, football, rugby, horseracing, hockey, cricket, golf, motor racing, snooker and ultra-running – to reveal how talent alone is never enough and how hard work, pain, pressure, stress, risk, focus, sacrifice, innovation, reinvention, passion, ruthlessness, luck and even failure can all play a crucial part in honing a winning mentality and achieving sustained success.”

Brownlee won back-to-back gold medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, the only triathlete to have ever defended their title. He is a two-time world champion, a four-time European champion and the 2014 Commonwealth champion. The first triathlete to be nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year, he came second in 2016 behind Wimbledon champion Andy Murray. He was the flag bearer for England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and has been nominated as a candidate for the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission.

He said: “I’ve been working on this book for over four years, but my interest in sporting greatness – across all disciplines – is something that has fascinated me my entire life. I am very much hoping that what I have written is not only entertaining but also practical, giving readers that one or two extra percent as they strive for their own personal best.”

Malcolm added: ‘‘It’s an immense privilege to be working with Alistair on this project. He has approached the writing process with characteristic energy, dedication and tenacity, digging deeper than ever before to illuminate what attributes really define the sporting elite.”