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Ronda Rousey wins Cross Sports Book of the Year
Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey has won Cross Sports Book of the Year, following her Cross International Autobiography of the Year win.
Selected by public vote, Californian-born Rousey gained almost 75% of the public vote with her book My Fight, Your Fight (Arrow), followed by New Writer of the Year Two Hours by Ed Caesar (Penguin) and Football Book of the Year winner Guillem Balague and his biography Ronaldo (Orion).
My Fight, Your Fight charts "the challenging career of the star and her struggles as she rose to the top, becoming the most dominant mixed-martial-arts fighter of a generation".
Rousey, who was the first female fighter to sign up to UFC in 2012, said of her victory: “I’m so grateful for the continuing support of my fans. In My Fight, Your Fight, we wanted to write a book that would transcend nationalities, sports and other boundaries. This award is recognition from the readers that we have been able to do that. The love and support you have shown means the world to me.”
The book was written with Rousey’s sister, Maria Burns Ortiz, who added: “It was such an honour to receive Cross International Autobiography of the Year in its debut year, and to now win Overall Sports Book of the Year is incredibly humbling. We are so moved that so many readers feel as passionately as we do about this book.”
Nicola Shepherd, director of trade/shopper marketing at A.T. Cross Company, said that Rousey’s book was inspirational for women everywhere. “It’s a fantastic achievement for Ronda to be announced as the Overall Cross Sports Book of the Year, beating a fantastic collection of books in the process," she said. "She is a true champion in every sense of the word.
“Myself and Cross are proud to award Ronda with this prize alongside the inaugural International Autobiography of the Year. We hope Ronda’s book will inspire more women – young and old – to put pen to paper and write their stories of sporting success.”
The vote was in partnership with National Book Tokens, with £100 of National Book Tokens being awarded to one participant in the vote via a prize draw.
