World Class: Purpose, Passion, and the Pursuit of Greatness On and Off the Field
(By Grant Wahl)
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| Author | Grant Wahl |
After Grant Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, collapsing in his press seat during a quarterfinal match, tributes to Wahl poured in from around the globe. Wahl was beloved for good reason—he was kind, generous, and unflinching in the face of injustice. He was also clearly one of the best journalists covering sports of his generation.
Spanning four decades of storytelling, World Class collects for the first time the finest work of Grant Wahl, from his college thesis to his twenty-five years of reporting at Sports Illustrated to his deeply personal work for Fútbol with Grant Wahl for Substack. Grant was the multi-tool modern clear and direct; able to write long, short, or in between; cosmopolitan; socially aware. He never talked down to the reader but at the same time refused to sell them short. He was keen to shed light and unafraid of the heat his work might generate.
Arranged thematically, World Class demonstrates how Grant’s career aligned with the evolution of sportswriting. Included are explorations of soccer subcultures from F.C. Barcelona to the dusty sandlots of Nacogdoches, Texas, as well as accounts of trophy lifts that have a first-draft-of-history definitiveness. Some pieces capture prodigies early in their careers, like LeBron James and Christian Pulisic; others lift the voices of the women athletes to whom Wahl paid early attention—stars like Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe. The book showcases the daring and important positions Wahl took in Qatar in the weeks before he died, supporting migrant workers and LGBTQ+ people.
More than a collection of Grant Wahl's best work, World Class is a portrait of a journalist at the height of his powers, always evolving with the times, revealed by the stories he found and the unflinching way he told them.”
