Host Jim McKay compares and contrasts human athletics with the animal world, from air to land to underwater. Topics that are covered include speed, body adaptations, survival, adrenaline, reaction time, storing energy, posture, climbing, aerodynamics, and aggression. Many athletes are shown running, with short clips being the norm as only the 100 meter races are complete from start to finish. Much of the footage comes from the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games and some of the athletes shown in competition include Florence Griffith Joyner, Jesse Owens, Babe Didrickson, Sebastian Coe, Roger Bannister, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Emil Zátopek, Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Joaquim Cruz, Nawal El Moutawakel, Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota, Joan Benoit, and Gabrielle Andersen. This 59 minute production was originally broadcast on the PBS television show NOVA in August 1992 and builds upon the first release of this genre from 1981, Animal Olympians. Pacific Arts Video distributed the home video that was written and produced by Hilary Jeffkins and directed by Bill Butt.
