BY KAREN BOSSICK

Doug Levy spent 25 years working as a Congressional staffer and the owner of a lobbying and governmental affairs consulting business. But, when it came time for him to write a book, it was not the world of politics that he zeroed in on but athletes who had come to his attention while working as a sports reporter.

Among those, it wasn’t the Hall of Famers but, rather, those athletes who reached deep down inside themselves to etch inspirational moments that will never be forgotten.

The initial inspiration was Gabriele Andersen-Schiess, a longtime Sun Valley resident who finished the first-ever women’s marathon at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, even as she lurched from side to side, barely able to stand or walk, because of severe dehydration.

Doug Levy included this picture of Gabriele Andersen-Schiess running in the 1984 Olympic Marathan before dehydration overtook her in the book.

Next, he thought of Manteo Mitchell, an American sprinter who finished a relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on a broken leg.

“I read a very small article about Manteo—how he hears a popping sound and he knows he’s fractured something and he has to make a decision about whether to keep going or not. That got me started on unsung heroism—heroism that has nothing to do about whether you get a medal or not,” said Levy.

Levy recounted these stories and others in his book “Hero Redefined: Profiles of Olympic Athletes Under the Radar.” And he will discuss it, with Andersen-Schiess at his side—at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

To see it in person, RSVP a seat at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/14518919. Catch the livestream at https://vimeo.com/event/5130452. Or watch the program later in the library’s archived recordings.

Others in the book include hockey star Mel Wakabayashi, who dealt with racism; alpine skier Brian Stemmle, who came back from a near-death experience on the slopes to win more races; Alexander Cushing, who led a longshot bid to bring the 1960 Winter Games to Squaw Valley, now Palisades Tahoe, and Senad Omanovic’s work to restore the luge used in the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games after years of war.

Others are distance runner David Moorcroft; marathoner John Stephen Akhwari, alpine skiers William Flaherty and Charles Flaherty, pole vaulter Tom Hintnaus, biathletes Tracy and Lanny Barnes; sailor Finn Class and 200-meter runner Peter Norman.

“The ones who are truly heroic are the ones who tell you they’re not, and that’s Gabriele,” Levy said. “She’s very unassuming, very modest. She’s the embodiment of the Olympic spirit and heroism in a modest way.”

Levy said that Andersen-Schiess taught a monumental lesson to all young girls coming after her that they, too, could get to the finish line with perseverance and willpower.

“You don’t have to be medal winner in the Olympic or even a firefighter entering burning buildings to be a hero,” he added. “Of course, the firefighters in the L.A. wildfires this winter were heroes. But so were the people who opened up pop-up shops to help people get blankets and shoes. So were the traffic cops who helped people get out of the l.A. hills safely.

“If you just look beyond the shiny objects and the headlines, you can find unsung heroism out there all the time, both in the Olympics and everyday life.”