The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life By Matt Fitzgerald VeloPress, 2020

Comeback stories always inspire us – whether it be making up a seemingly insurmountable deficit off the bike at the Ironman World Championship (Mirinda Carfrae’s 14-minuteplus come-from-behind victory at the 2014 Ironman World Championship when she ran past Daniela Ryf), or coming back from injury and pregnancy to win the Olympics or the Boston Marathon, as Joan Benoit did in 1984 and 1991.

In The Comeback Quotient, Matt Fitzgerald explores the science behind sports comebacks. He argues that athletes who are able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds are “ultrarealists” who can “fully accept, embrace and address reality.”

Fitzgerald weaves compelling comeback stories with science and constructive tips on how we all can come back from setbacks in sport and life. By embracing some of the things that “ultrarealists” do really well – focusing on the controllable and not moaning “why me” when things get tough – we can all do a better job of getting through tough times. And even when comebacks fail, we learn how those same traits can make it easier for us to “make the best of the situation in other ways.”

As author Jim Afremow attests: “The Comback Quotient provides elite-tested mental strategies for loving the comeback more than hating the setback.”