Inspired by Ederle, I started digging around in history and found Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, and Louise Stokes and knew that these three largely overlooked Olympic track stars of the 1930s would be the inspiration for my next novel, Fast Girls , because their dramatic stories of perseverance, friendship, and second chances are about so much more than running. So, even if you prefer kettle corn over kettlebells, you’ll find ways to relate to these athletes because at the core of every great sports story is a human story.