Sports stars are a unique breed of professional, a strange and sometimes contradictory mix of ambition, dedication, wealth, sacrifice and excess that they manage to express as athletic brilliance. The most successful the fastest, the strongest, the most skilful are so often the most compelling and the hardest to understand. What is it that sends them that bit further, that bit higher than their compatriots? Is it single-mindedness, or occassional madness? Relentless training, or a kind of God-given brilliance?Simon Hattenstone has interviewed some of the world's leading sportsmen and women, from Serena Williams to Jenson Button, Paul Gascoigne to Mike Tyson. 'Sport Legends: Blood, Sweat and Brilliance' captures 14 of the best interviews with a range of subjects from all sports cricketers, footballers, rugby stars, boxers, snooker players are all here. Accompanied by a new essay by the author on the peculiar natures of our sporting heroes and how they cope with their success it is a read like no other.