From North Korea comes this 88 minute motion picture that begins with a celebration of Jong Song-Ok arriving in Pyongyang after winning the World Championship gold medal in Seville in 1999. The film then uses a flashback to see her connect with male runner Chung Il prior to the 1996 Atlanta games. It shows footage of Song-Ok finishing in 20th place in Atlanta (2:35:31) yet this performance brings much criticism and the coach steps down and the Amnokgang Sports Team breaks apart due to the "failure". After Chung Il becomes the Asian Champion in the marathon, interest is again expressed for a women’s program and the athletes join once again to train. Although apparently injured, she overcomes these problems and again represents the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Seville. With a group of seven runners at the halfway point, Song-Ok makes her move at 35 kilometers and wins the title in 2:26:59 also claiming a National Record. The ending to the race is overshadowed by the strong music and passionate language "She ran with this in mind (the General) and finally reached the sky. The sky was the embrace of the Great General." It is hard to know how much of this production is an accurate depiction versus what many would consider political propaganda. This film has English subtitles yet they are sometimes hard to read the white lettering. Keep your eye out on auction sites if you would like to see this one for yourself.
