Meet London Champions FIRST

 

As readers of this Olympic blog may know from past posts, five-ringed feature films appear across this writer's best picture lists.

After shaking hands with Bud Greenspan in 1997 and again in 2010, it was sad to learn of his death after the Vancouver Games. What would it mean for the official Olympic film of London 2012?

We'll get a peek at the answer when the U.S. Olympic Committee, National CineMedia (NCM) Fathom Events and New Moon present the premiere screening of "FIRST: The Story of the London 2012 Olympic Games" on Thursday, May 30, with tickets available at select theatres across the USA.

Though this blog is Atlanta-based, the screening site for my viewing is at Cinemark Tinseltown in Oklahoma City (readers in OKC, please join me!).

According to the premiere press release and trailer, "FIRST" is the only IOC-sanctioned film of London's Games, and it "follows a dozen first-time Olympic athletes on their journey from their homes in different corners of the globe to meet their fate in London."

Sounds good to me!

Though there are dozens of Olympians who briefly appear in "FIRST" -- including Michael Phelps, Jessica Ennis, Usain Bolt and Oscar Pistorius -- here's the rundown of Olympians who viewers will get to know in more detail via behind-the-scenes access at London Olympic venues:

• Qiu Bo of China (men's diving 10m platform)
• Caroline Buchanan of Australia (women's BMX)
• Chad le Clos of South Africa (men's swimming)
• Missy Franklin of the USA (women's swimming)
• Majlinda Kelmendi of Albania (women's judo)
• Christophe Lemaitre of France (men's athletics 200m)
• John Orozco of the USA (men's gymnastics)
• David Rudisha of Kenya (men's athletics 800m)
• Heena Sidhu of India (women's shooting 10m air pistol)
• Katie Taylor of Ireland (women's boxing lightweight)
• Laura Trott of Great Britain (women's track cycling)
• Queen Underwood of the USA (women's boxing lightweight)

I was privileged to meet Franklin at the USOC Media Summit last year, Orozco at USA House in London and Trott at the Olympic Stadium on one night of the 2012 Games -- can hardly wait to learn more about their journeys in particular, and also for the introduction to the other Olympians on screen.

According to at least one Facebook post, this film actually debuted overseas a few months ago, with May 30 as the U.S. premiere.

The film's comprehensive IMDB listing makes me wonder the extent to which the USA version was edited for American audiences (if this is the case, here's hoping they let the Olympic drama speak for itself and they don't crap it up as NBC Sports sometimes does with over-the-top USA-USA-USA sentiment).

Multiple versions or not, this Olympic documentary appears to be a directorial first for Caroline Rowlands, who previously produced other films, according to IMBD. Can't wait to see what directorial cues she took from Leni Riefenstahl, Greenspan, Hugh Hudson and other Olympic film directors while putting her own spin on Olympic cinema.

Photos via NCM Fathom Events

Atlanta Contemporary Art Center Shows Photography Exhibition "The Olympic City"

 

 

Not long ago -- before the awful Oklahoma tornado news, a 40th birthday vacation in New Mexico, and a week of work at Cedar Point theme park in Sandusky, Ohio (all experiences about which I will eventually write) -- an online calendar listing caught my eye in April.

The brief mentioned the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center just opened a photography exhibition titled "The Olympic City" featuring numerous works compiled by a pair of photographers who visited several five-ringed host cities. The exhibition continues through June 15.

Though I regret the travel-related delays to craft this post (it's been a few weeks since a rainy afternoon visit to the exhibition), it's been good to reflect on the show in anticipation of a panel discussion set for March 23 (Thursday night -- tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.) and an upcoming Atlanta Olympic field trip also planned by the museum on June 8.

"The Olympic City" features several dozen images created by photographer Jon Pack and filmmaker Gary Hustwit, who since 2008 trekked the globe to explore past Olympic host cities and evidence of impact and legacy from the big event. Details of their journey are chronicled via The Olympic Project.

Not every Olympic host city is represented, but the exhibition includes a healthy mix of recent and older, summer and winter, historic and less iconic Olympic developments. Most Olympiads from Rome 1960 to London 2012 are covered, with Munich as the only gaping hole in Hustwit's and Pack's travels.

I pondered the exclusion of Munich and the extent to which this may be intentional since the 1972 Games, in many ways, defies one component of the exhibition, presented to serve as a "possible guide to the dos and don’ts of contemporary built environments." If not overshadowed by the events of Sept. 5, Munich's Games would stand today as a marvel of Olympic legacies done right.

"The Olympic City" exhibition skews on the "don'ts" in many ways. Why include Berlin 1936 without the Bavarian Olympic counterpart of 1972? If you want to make an anti-Games point, leaving out Munich is one way to punctuate the point.

Seoul's 1988 successes also are excluded; but then, maybe Korea remains on the photographers' "to do" lists, not yet earning enough votes from those tallied by project donors.

Most of the exhibition photographs provide a beautiful and thoughtful snapshot on the many ways time buffs away the shimmer of the Olympic glory days. Images of Barcelona's amazing 1992 architecture and Mediterranean-nestled venues stand out. A look at inner-city Los Angeles and remnants of 1932 and 1984 influences are interesting and shed new light on lesser-known legacy projects (In 2003, I think I bought ice cream from the same vendor photographed at the L.A. Coliseum).

A peek at small town Lake Placid, N.Y., brought back memories of my own visit to the Olympic Village in the Adirondacks and the conversion of housing to modern prison. And a look at the harsh realities of war torn Sarajevo allude to the dark tale of the region's post-Games horrors. Well done.

So it confused me that when their project visited Mexico City, Pack and Hustwit missed some spectacular and positive impacts of the Games. Where was their photo of Diego Rivera's murals created for the Olympic venues? Not here, perhaps overlooked on the hunt for homeless inhabitants of a city long-since changed by the Olympic impact, or missed while exploring the crapped out Olympic Village cinema?

In London, why show the trash-strewn backside of an Underground station when across town there are new world class buildings by renowned best-of-our era architects (like in Barcelona)? I liked the Banksy-style anti-Games spray paint commentary (and concur, not everyone likes the Olympics). But there was a lot of graffiti photographed in this exhibition, across many Olympic cities, where more attention could have gone to non-negatives and non-alleyways. I had the feeling both photographers got locked on a mission to find the filth.

There are exceptions. On the luxury side, I liked the Helsinki image of an historic waterfront hotel opened in 1952. Images of the people in or around the once-Games gathering places are more personal and thought provoking -- what was the personal legacy for these individuals, I wondered. The bandage-clad Montreal Olympic Stadium also stood out for this visitor.

But the exhibition kept bringing me back to observations of other art museum photography noted earlier this year. Why go for decrepitude when there is more positive "out there" to be captured by the lens?

One other Olympic city stood out for its exclusion from the current exhibition stop: Atlanta and the 1996 Games. I'd like to think that the museum's planned June 8 "opinionated tour" will be fair and balanced, including Atlanta's "good" Olympic legacy elements (Centennial Olympic Park, 7,000+ college dorm rooms, Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Turner Field, Atlanta History Center archives and expansion) and forgotten legacies (tennis center, AUC venues), but have a sinking feeling the tour may be a Fox News version of "fair" and "balanced" skewed on the negative side. Thursday night's panel discussion should be interesting to experience.

Other critics and reporters offered their POV on the exhibition when it stopped in Atlanta and  recent markets. The book version of the exhibition is coming soon, too.

Should anyone go see "The Olympic City" exhibition? Yes, absolutely! Just soak it in with a grain of salt, looking beyond the grime to the brighter side of the cities once lit by the Olympic flame.

Photos of exhibition by Nicholas Wolaver include works copyrighted by Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit -- view their gallery here. The Montreal stadium image at the top of this post is from the exhibition and its website OlympicCityProject.com

Register This

When snowboarding entered the Winter Olympic roster in 1998 at Nagano, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat video on "Wide World of Sports" seemed destined to receive new footage to replace the famous ski jumper gone wild.

I remember watching Japan's snowboarding broadcasts -- crazy feats, crashes and all -- but admit none of the athlete names stuck with me (I was too busy chatting online with two of Iceland's female ski team members via the IBM Olympic Village athlete email system).

The same is true for 2002 and 2006 -- no snowboarder names come to mind now (though Phoebe Mills' transition from gymnastics to snowboarding, and Shaun White's name, "stuck" with regards to the snow sport after 2010).

And it was interesting to learn about the earliest days of snowboarding when the guy who started it all sadly died last year.

With snowboarding curiosity on the brain, yesterday I seized the opportunity to speak with Chris Klug, the three-time Olympian who, I learned, was the first Team USA snowboarder announced for Nagano in '98. Klug went on to win bronze on Valentine's Day in 2002 at the Salt Lake Games (though I attended women's snowboarding on the first Sunday of the Games, travels took me to downtown Salt Lake most of the day that Feb. 14, missing Klug's medal-winning competition -- come to think of it, I spent that evening at Iceland's special pavilion in the Olympic city, but not a single female ski team member showed up).

Back to the call with Chris ...

"Winning bronze [in front of] 25,000 fans, 100 close friends and family," ranks among Klug's favorite Olympic memories.

By phone, Klug also said being the first to qualify in 1998, and walking in to the Nagano Olympic opening ceremony with his coach in awe, exclaiming, "Can you believe how far our sport has come?!" also topped the list of five-ringed recollections.

Arriving as the team's elder statesman, at age 37, in Vancouver also came to mind, said Klug. He said in 2006 he did some broadcasting work during the Torino Games.

But all Olympic glory and memories pale in comparison to what Klug expressed as the biggest moment in his sports career and life: Learning he needed a new liver, and then receiving it through organ donation after a tense waiting game that spanned most of the 1990s.

"I remember getting the call," said Klug.

That call came in 2000, nine years after the diagnosed need for a liver. Klug added that although he was healthier post-transplant, it was a "scary process."

So, in this post, I buried the lede until now: Chris Klug is the only Olympian, summer Games or winter, to compete as an organ transplant recipient.

According to his website, and paraphrasing from our conversation, "The hardest part of the process was the waiting game leading up to my transplant," according to Klug.

Now a real estate agent, part-time snowboard coach and hands-on contributor to the charity he founded, Klug spends a lot of time and energy expressing gratitude for the second chance at life provided by an organ donor.

Klug wants people to know the facts about organ donation, and on the call the G. David Fleming, president and CEO of Donate Life America, shared many important stats everyone should read.

"We want people to realize organ transplants only happen as a result of a family decision to donate," said Fleming.

Taking the steps to register for donation is key.

Organ donation is a topic my mom and I discussed in 1989 in the final days before earning my first driver's license in Oklahoma (at the time and likely now still, parental consent was a requirement). By the time my adult Georgia license paperwork got completed, checking the organ donor box was quick and easy, the right decision for this blogger.

But it was not until recent months that the power of organ donation hit closest to home, as my good friends the Taylor family welcomed their first son into the world. The family learned their baby boy needed a new liver only days after his birth, and young Aaron eventually received the miracle of two liver transplants thanks to the kindness of strangers (read their story of bravery and perserverance via CaringBridge with some Kleenex). I know the Taylors share infinite gratitude similar to the thanks expressed by Klug.

April is national Donate Life month, and I hope this post will inspire many to take a few minutes to learn more and discuss organ donation with those they love most, then if it's right for them, make time to register.

Sharing Klug's inspirational tag line: "Enjoy the ride -- don't take a single turn for granted."

Photo by Dennis Schroeder via ChrisKlug.com

315 and Counting

With just 315 days until the Opening Ceremony for Sochi 2014, today's New York Times featured a full-page photo essay by Moscow-based photographer James Hill.

The online gallery gives a good overview of the upcoming Winter Olympic host city, so sharing it here.

The palm trees remind me of New Orleans.

Photo by James Hill via NYTimes.com

Laurels for Sports Art

 

In Greek mythology, Daphne's demise inspired creation of laurels.

If there are laurels for Olympic and sports art, it's appropriate Daphne, Ala., is the U.S. hometown for such honors.

The other day I stumbled upon a news item about the Daphne-based American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA). According to the Al.com story, ASAMA recently received a five-ringed donation of numerous (and very valuable) Official Reports for several Olympic Games. Score!

They also unveiled a large statue honoring Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin.

A bit about ASAMA from their website:

Located on the campus of the U.S. Sports Academy ... the ASAMA collection is comprised of more than 1,000 pieces across all media including paintings, sculpture, prints, posters, photography and assemblage. The collection is believed to be the largest of sport art in North America and possibly the world. Also featured is the largest public art offering in the state of Alabama, the famed two-story tall mural by Maestro Cristóbal Gabarrón. “A Tribute to the Human Spirit” graces one wall of the main campus building and has become a landmark on the Eastern Shore [of Mobile Bay].

Scanning ASAMA's online details and virtual tour, it pleased me to learn the organization presents the annual Sports Artist of the Year Award, and I was doubly pleased to find family friend Bart Forbes among the first five recipients of these artsy laurels (his Seoul '88 Olympic stamps were paired with my Olympic Festival commemorative cancellations used by the U.S. Postal Service at U.S. Olympic Festival '89).

Neither Mobile, Ala., nor Daphne are destinations often on my radar, but I may just have to make a special trip to experience ASAMA in person. It's open weekdays and admission is free.

Anyone reading: Have you visited ASAMA and, if so, what did you enjoy most there?

Photos via ASAMA

Blast In Boston

Sad to learn yesterday's news of explosions on the home stretch to the Boston Marathon finish line.

As tragic it is that so many were injured (with three reported deaths as of this post), from my view things might have been a lot worse (thank goodness not) had the explosions detonated near grandstands filled with fans for the first-to-finish celebrity/international runners.

Not long after the Boston blasts, I noted many news outlets quickly drew comparisons to the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Olympics, and NBC Nightly News pointed out how a lot of counter-terrorism measures kicked in after the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Associated Press compiled a list of U.S. bombings since the 1800s, with many bomb blasts with which I was not familiar.

Of course, sitting today in the Oklahoma City suburb Edmond, memories of April 19, 1995, are on the brain. So pleased it was not worse in Boston (those days/weeks just after the OKC bombing were rough).

Comparing notes with an Olympic friend last night, I shared my hunch is that the Boston attacks are the work of a domestic attacker, perhaps someone trying to copy the Centennial Olympic Park bomber in some way. The same friend suspects the attack is politically motivated given the international field of runners in the prestigious race. North Korea comes to mind but only as a result of recent headlines (seems highly unlikely they could pull off something in Boston and then sit on it without taking credit).

It's frustrating that only time and hard work by investigators will reveal the culprits. Here's hoping this one can get solved quickly with a lucky break (like investigators enjoyed in Oklahoma, leading to a quick arrest).

One has to wonder how the Boston Marathon attacks may guide the potential beantown Olympid bid for 2024, the city's third consideration of an Olympic bid. Security updates are already announced for the 2016 Games and the 2020 Olympic bid candidate cities in response to yesterday's events.

It's interesting to note Boston's many nicknames include The Athens of America. Be safe. Keep running!

Photos via this link

Conan's Andy Richter: Dead Set On ATL Tourism

In case you missed it last night on TBS, "Conan" star Andy Richter shared his Atlanta travel log featuring stops at several top Atlanta attractions.

Richter ventured out of The Tabernacle, the downtown home of Conan O'Brien and company last week in The ATL for the warmup to the NCAA Final Four at the Georgia Dome. It's my understanding many from the show enjoyed Centennial Olympic Park across the street from the big old church.

After visiting The World of Coca-Cola, Richter donned a "Walker" zombie look from one of his favorite Atlanta-based TV shows, "The Walking Dead," for some in-costume visits to other tourist hotspots including the Georgia Aquarium and CNN Center.

Prior to meeting Richter at the High Museum of Art (a PR client -- our communications team hosted Richter for "Dead Head" filming), I was a fan of his work on NBC, TBS and elsewhere. He also appeared in a Chicago 2016 Olympic bid video a few years back.

After meeting Richter I'm an even bigger fan for his fun antics, polite interaction with the public, down to earth demeanor and his on camera professionalism.

Richter and a small army of TBS writers, camera and sound operators and an entourage of make-up and prop experts from "The Walking Dead" visited the High Museum of Art on March 29, first visiting some of the museum's permanent collection galleries before shooting an outdoor scene near the piazza of the Woodruff Arts Center. As they say on TBS, very funny.

The Conan sidekick and crew also shook hands and posed for photos with onlookers, and took time to visit briefly with the High's director (see photos with this post). When you watch the final bit from the April 8 "Conan" show, it might taste better with some red licorice (a key prop used for the concluding bite at the end of the clip). Enjoy!

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver