For celebrated journalist Tracey Lee Holmes, sport has been both a way of life and a lens through which to look at life itself. In this completely candid, wide-ranging and passionate book – part memoir, part manifesto – she shares both her stories and her views on sport’s most dramatic issues.
The dragonfly sees in 360 degree perspective, and that’s what Tracey Lee Holmes has always done in her sports journalism. Over four decades, she has taken us beyond the scores and stats to the real stories of sport – the stories of human beings in exultation and defeat, and the bigger stories of money, power, and all too often, discrimination.
In both her life and work, Holmes has consistently broken barriers. The first female presenter of the ABC’s flagship sports programme, Grandstand, she has pioneered coverage of and by women in sport. Her longform style of interviewing and her reporting on world events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cups have introduced us to athletes from all backgrounds and nations, from our own Cathy Freeman and James Hird to Ayrton Senna and Pele. Anchor, reporter, podcaster and – for a rocky spell over the 2000 Sydney Olympics – media manager, Holmes has never sought to divorce sport and the politics of the world it’s played in. As well as recounting highlights (and a couple of lowlights) from her career, in this book she shares her views on drugs in sport, Sam Kerr, and what challenges face the Olympics before the 2032 Brisbane Games.
Holmes has also had a rich personal story. The child of itinerant surfers, she has lived in many different countries with her own children and husband, Stan Grant, seeing the world from many different perspectives. And her life has been full of surprises: only after numerous years living in China did she learn that she has Chinese heritage herself.
Bracing, intimate and characteristically unconventional, The Eye of the Dragonfly gives us the full picture of a remarkable life in sport.
About the Author
Tracey Holmes is one of Australia’s most recognised and rewarded journalists having spent almost four decades reporting on the world’s biggest sports stories. Her work is focused on the intersection where sport meets politics, business, culture, and news. Her weekly podcast, The Sports Ambassador, explores in detail the stories behind the headlines, it can be found on Patreon, Spotify, YouTube and across most social media platforms. The Eye of the Dragonfly, her most recent book offering a 360 degree view of the world through the prism of sport, will be published by Simon and Schuster in August. As Deputy Chair of the Oceania Australia Foundation, a Council Member of Indigenous Football Australia, a member of the IOC Press Committee, and a Mentor for the IOC Young Reporters program, Tracey is actively involved in promoting sport as a tool for social change and empowerment. Tracey has a Master’s degree in Communications, is currently studying a Master’s in Sports Diplomacy at the Hungary University of Sports Science, and (when time permits) will finish her Master’s in Sports Law at Melbourne University.
