Gold medallist Mark Todd Autobiography to Orion

01.02.12 | Charlotte Williams - The Bookseller

Orion has acquired the autobiography of double Olympic gold medallist eventing champion Mark Todd, who has also won four times at the Badminton Horse Trials, and five times at Burghley.

Orion managing director Susan Lamb and Weidenfeld & Nicolson publisher Alan Samson bought world rights, Europe and Far East exclusive, to the title, Second Chance, directly from the eventing champion. Orion will publish in hardback on 19th April, priced £20.
Todd is the only rider since 1932 to have won back-to-back individual titles at the Olympics, which he did at Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. After the Sydney Olympics in 2000 he retired from eventing to take up a career as a racehorse trainer and breeder in his native New Zealand.
He made an eventing comeback at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and last year won Badminton. He will compete at the London Olympics this summer.
Samson said: “We’re thrilled to be publishing one of the best known and most successful eventing champions in the world. And it really will be a must-have book for anyone interested in eventing, and beyond.”
Todd said: “When I was in the lead after the cross-country at Badminton last year, it did occur to me that it would be an amazing story if I won. It shouldn’t really have been possible, and yet it happened.
"In fact, the whole story has been extraordinary; when I started competing, I considered myself a dairy farmer who rode a bit. When I won an Olympic gold medal, I realised I might be able to make it.”