At just 13 years of age, Michelle Ford made her Olympic debut at the Montreal Games. But it was four years later at the 1980 Moscow Games where her story truly began.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, and Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan, the Australian Government publicly pressured the Australian Olympic Federation to boycott the Moscow Games.

Despite the pressure, Australia decided to send a team, which Michelle was proudly a part of. But, instead of being celebrated, athletes like Michelle were vilified, threatened and labelled as traitors.

To make matters worse, the East German athletes competing at the games were taking part in state-sanction doping. But despite it all, Michelle became the only non-Soviet bloc swimmer to win a gold medal at the games and prevent a clean sweep by the East German swimmers.

We hope you enjoy Michelle’s story and if you want to learn more, you can purchase her book, turning the tide here: https://www.fairplaypublishing.com.au/products/turning-the-tide?srsltid=AfmBOopKky3kMdYkO1UPzQTUdYKd5wbS3t8oHPXEvkI4dl7VZiJZ2dSZ

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