During NBC’s coverage of the Atlanta Olympics, this film ran uninterrupted on the final Sunday of the games. It is the story of five inspirational figures who converged during an astonishing two weeks in a marvelous ancient city. They became the most extraordinary group of Olympians to emerge from a single Olympic games. Muhammad Ali, Wilma Rudolph, Rafer Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Five legends to be united by a principle uniquely American; each on a journey toward greatness, measuring always, the distance between who they were and who they hoped to be. This video uses historical footage from the 1960 Rome Olympics, interspersed with interviews with the athletes and their friends and relatives. Highlights include clips of the three gold medal-winning races with Wilma Rudolph, the decathlon competition between Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang (Taiwan), the basketball competition with Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, and Cassius Clay’s (Muhammad Ali) gold-medal winning boxing bout. Also includes clips of Ali winning the heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston, and Rafer Johnson lighting the torch during the opening ceremonies at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. The host is Bob Costas with Dick Ebersol in an executive producer role.
