Winner of an IOC Golden Ring, this essay on the resilience of the Olympics required a fair amount of resilience itself. As the pandemic continued to disrupt traditional production processes, remote shoots with Olympic legends in Jamaica, the UK, and all across Canada form the spine of this essay that kicked off CBC’s coverage of the Beijing Games.
It was an honour to work with Allen Abel (from his home in Maryland). His lifelong coverage of the Olympics — much of which I watched growing up — gave him the perfect vantage point to reflect on the power of the games. He reminded me why they are worthwhile in spite of everything.
Discovering the complete Olympic films was a revelation for me. It was amazing to see so many iconic moments (like Elizabeth Manley’s gold medal performance) from new angles, beautifully captured.