Sydney 2000 Olympics:
Bud Greenspan’s Gold From Down Under
2001
116 Minutes
Olympic Games
Unknown Source
The 22 minutes segment from this production capture perhaps the greatest night in track and field history, September 25, 2000. The action held in front of 112,524 spectators, includes nine finals and is woven together as if you were watching each of the individual events placed in context with other athletes and the crowd as the evening progresses. No other production has given the feeling, as if you were issued your own media pass, as you engage is each of the spectacular performances. The nine athletes in order of appearance include:
Stacy Dragila in the first ever Olympic women’s pole vaulting competition with 13 finalists. You return to this competition between each of the other events as the bar is raised and fewer and fewer women remain in the competition.
Kathy Freeman starts the evening of running with the open 400 meter race. Favored in her specialty event she tries to not go too fast too soon. The race announcer states " What a legend! What a champion!".
Michael Johnson has to wait for the victory lap to end before he has his opportunity to race in lane six, where Freeman just competed. Isolated shots of Johnson show his unique upright running style as he becomes the first man to repeat as 400 meter champion.
Virgilijus Alekna, from Lithuania, throws the discus 227 feet 4 inches in the fifth round to win the discus. He greets Johnson during his victory lap.
Anier García from Cuba sets a personal best in the final to upset the Americans who have a strong history of dominating the 110 meter high hurdles, having won 19 of the 24 past Olympic games.
Gabriella Szabo continues her winning streak in the 5000 meters as O’sullivan from Canada challenges her over the last 200 meters. The winning time is an Olympic record of 14:40.79.
The men’s triple jump winner, Jonathan Edwards finally wins at age 34 with a third round effort of 58 1 1/4 inches.
Maria Mutola wins the first ever Olympic gold medal for Mozambique in the women’s 800 meters. This is her fourth Olympic games running at this distance
The emperor, Haile Gebrselassie starts the last running event, the 10,000 meters, at 10:30 PM. With 500 meters to go there are three Kenyans and two Ethiopians in contention. In the homestretch it is defending champion Haile Gebrselassie challenging his main rival, Paul Tergat, from Kenya, to make the closest finish in Olympic history in this event. This race is outstanding, simply outstanding.
This film premiered August 26th, 2001 on the Showtime network and it is one of the finest works to come from the splendid storyteller, Bud Greenspan. Also on this tape is a 17 minute segment on the men’s decathlon competition featuring Chris Huffins trying to hold off Erki Nool and Roman Sebrle. Other sports are also featured on this tape such as the USA baseball team led by Tommy Lassorta, cycling, equestrian, swimming, and the first Olympic triathlon competition. This tape is not widely available, so be prepared to bid if you see it up for auction.
Narrator Will Lyman ends this segment with the following quote before portions of the closing ceremony are shown: "And so it was done. And those who witnessed it will remember and cherish it throughout their lifetime. Nine gifted athletes, who on this night gained Olympic immortality. There is much honor to those who made it to the top step of the victory podium. There is much honor to those who made the attempt, but of the nine who achieved glory this night perhaps the memory that will remain the longest is that of Kathy Freeman. For never before in Olympic history have the hopes and dreams of an entire nation be placed in the performance of a young woman who first ran for herself, then for the people of her heritage, even more now she runs for the first time for all of Australia."
