Finding Freddie
by Judy Joseph-Black

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The Canadian Men’s Rhythmic Vaulting team has finally earned a bronze medal … almost a decade after the fact. When a shocking phone call reveals that drug retesting has placed them on the podium, a group of former teammates soon learns that third place may be more trouble than it’s worth. With death and heartache haunting the years since Beijing in 2008, there’s little unity to be found among men who once felt like brothers. Curtis is furious; Gary is gone; and Freddie—who may hold the key to the source of the group’s unhappiness—is missing, apparently lost to drugs in Vancouver’s notorious Downtown East Side. Yet a stubborn journalist can sense a bigger story: an underbelly of abuse and corruption that leads her down a perilous path that may risk her career. Written by a veteran of the Canadian sport world, Finding Freddie is a behind-the-scenes look at a cutthroat system that sacrifices its most vulnerable. With as many twists and turns as an Olympic floor routine, it deftly reveals the hidden costs of a culture where money is tight and winning is everything.

www.judyjosephblack.ca

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Judy Joseph-Black has been working in sport for over four decades. Her career spans five Paralympic Games as part of the communications team, two Commonwealth Games, and a dozen Canada Summer/Winter Games as part of the Team BC mission staff. Along with her experience in university sport, she has served as executive director of a Provincial Sport Organization and manager of the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team. She was also a sport policy analyst in provincial government for a decade. After years of varsity soccer and premier soccer, Judy plays golf with her soccer friends now that her knees have given up. She volunteers on three boards: the Canadian Paralympic Committee, the Canada Games Council, and Sport BC (on which she is currently Chair). She loves gardening, renovating, and exploring the many trails on Gabriola Island, where she lives with her husband and two dogs.

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Judy Joseph-Black