BUD GREENSPAN'S FAVORITE STORIES OF OLYMPIC GLORY (TV)
Summary
This documentary collects several of famed Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan's "favorite stories." The first story, "The Perfect 10," recounts Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's gold medal triumph in the 1976 Olympics, and her bevy of perfect 10s. Her coach Bela Karolyi talks about his training regimen with Comaneci, as well as his coaching of 1972 Olympic champion Olga Korbut. The second story, "Stuff the Silver, We Came for the Gold," is about the 1988 200-meter freestyle swimming race, in which Australian dark horse Duncan Armstrong triumphed over American Matt Biondi and Brit Michael Gross. Both Armstrong and his eccentric then-coach Laurie Lawrence remember the race and 1988 Seoul games. The next story, "The Soldier Who Conquered Rome," is about the 1960 Ethiopian long-distance running team and their Swedish coach Omni Niskanen. The story further focuses on Abebe Bikila, the first east African to ever win a gold medal. The next story, "The Meanest Man in the World," details legendary Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin of Russia, who through the 1996 Olympics had never lost a single match. Karelin talks about his intense training regimen in frigid Russia as well as his highbrow hobbies. In the final story, "Swifter, Higher, Stronger," American decathlete Dan O'Brien's road to gold is detailed. As the favorite in the 1992 games, O'Brien had a legendary flop in the U.S. Olympic trials, only to persevere and return to glory as a gold medalist in the 1996 games. Both O'Brien and his longtime friendly rival Dave Johnson discuss his road to gold.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: August 20, 2000 Sunday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:82768
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries; Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: Olympic Games; Sports; Olympics
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV, 2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Nancy Beffa … Executive Producer
- Bruce Beffa … Senior Producer
- Sydney Thayer … Coordinating Producer
- Bud Greenspan … Producer, Director, Writer
- Eric Hamilton … Associate Producer
- Buena H. Guzman … Associate Producer
- Lee Holdridge … Music by
- Will Lyman … Narrator
- Duncan Armstrong
- Abebe Bikila
- Matt Biondi
- Nadia Comaneci
- Michael Gross
- Dave Johnson
- Alexander Karelin
- Bela Karolyi
- Olga Korbut
- Laurie Lawrence
- Omni Niskanen
- Dan O'Brien