Olympics Videos - The Documentary Network

Why the Sochi Olympics are the Most Expensive in History

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 01:54:30 +0000

The Olympics are as much about money as they are about sports. Between broadcasting rights, merchandising, sponsorships and construction of the Olympic venues themselves, there's a lot of money to be made. In the case of Russia's Winter Olympics in Sochi, there's more money to be made than ever before, especially if you're a friend of President Putin. The 2014 Winter Games have cost Russia about $50 billion, making them the most expensive in history. Corruption watchdogs say it's ordinary Russians who will end up footing the bill for this excess, not private investors as Putin has suggested. We went to Sochi to investigate the claims of corruption and kickbacks, tour some of the most expensive Olympic venues ever built, and talk to Sochi residents who have been pushed aside to make room for Putin's man-made mountains of money.

Russia’s media Olympics

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 00:50:30 +0000

While the majority of Russia's news media have not even waited for the torch to get lit to declare the Sochi Winter Olympic Games a triumph, other journalists in Sochi have different news pegs in mind. Among these is the contentious gay propaganda law, the environmental impact of the Sochi development projects and, of course, the enormous cost to the taxpayer. But step-by-step, through the Vladimir Putin years, the Russian media - particularly on the broadcast side - have been brought to heel. The president and his inner circle can, directly or indirectly, manage the state's message through the media. Journalism can be a dangerous game in Russia. Pushing the boundaries can get foreign reporters expelled and it can get Russian reporters killed. These are the Olympics the Kremlin wanted. But how will it like the news coverage that always comes with hosting the games?

The Dark Side of the London 2012 Olympics – Part 3/4

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:47:53 +0000

The 2012 London Olympics have been billed as "The Greenest Games the World Has Ever Seen," but, well, it's not as simple as that. In part 3, we take a look at the claims corporate sponsors are using as a PR stunt to cover up their checkered environmental and humanitarian pasts. Meanwhile, a monster has been spotted eating birds in the River Lea. We call in a cryptozoologist to investigate.

The Dark Side of the London 2012 Olympics – Part 2/4

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:22:23 +0000

An in-depth look at the British public's reaction to The Games in London and the negative impact it's having on certain people's lives. It's not just politicians, capitalists, sportsmen, and protestors who are obsessed with the Olympics. Pornographers, gangsters, and alien conspiracy theorists are pretty excited about it too.

China’s Race for Gold

Documentary.net staff — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:30:33 +0000

China is home to some of the world's best athletes. At the Beijing Olympics, the country topped the medals table, winning 100 medals in 25 sports, including 51 golds. And they are widely expected to do well at the 2012 London Games. Each year, young talent - some just five years old - are singled out by scouts and placed in special state-run academies where they are groomed to become future champions. Some, like basketball star Yao Ming, eventually achieve success. Others are not so fortunate. Zhang Shangwu, a former gold medalist at the World University Games survives by begging on the streets of Beijing. Zhang once had a promising career as a gymnast but was forced to retire a decade ago because of an injury to his achilles tendon. With his Olympic dreams dashed, Zhang attempted to study and find alternative employment, only to be rebuffed time and again because of his lack of paper qualifications. The young man turned to petty theft, spent time in prison, and is today homeless and penniless. Zhang is not alone. Retired Chinese athletes regularly complain that they suffer from injuries and unemployment, as the government frequently neglects their scholastic education and ignores their injuries while taking a sizable cut of their earnings in the name of national pride. Some athletes also say they faced abuse, exploitation and official interference during the course of their careers. But now, there are calls for change.

The Dark Side of the London 2012 Olympics – Part 1

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:43:39 +0000

Just in time Vice magazine takes an in-depth look at the British public’s reaction to The Games coming to London this summer and the negative impact it's having on certain people's lives. The six week festival promises to bring a celebration of unity and sporting achievement, not to mention a huge cash injection to our beleaguered capital. The film questions the real effects of The Games on a city as complex and tempestuous as London and discovers that they go much deeper, and murkier than the Olympics' media spin-machine would have us believe. In episode one, VICE visit the Carpenters Estate in East London, that is being demolished to make way for the Olympic Games and spoke with the families living in these houses - some, for almost half a century - being dispersed and relocated as far away as Barking and Dagenham: a consequence of what we're being told is "regeneration". We also speak to Mike Wells of Games Monitor, who through his research has uncovered less than savoury practices, such as the disturbance of radioactive waste on the Olympic Stadium site. Finally, we examine the social and cultural impact of the Games with acclaimed author, Iain Sinclair who talks to us about how the landscape of Hackney/Newham has changed due to The Olympics and the true ‘legacy’ that the venture will leave in Britain.

Paddle vs. Propeller: Which Swimming Stroke is Superior?

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:53:25 +0000

Two swimming strokes—one that pulls through the water like a boat paddle and another that whirls to the side like a propeller—are commonly used by athletes training for the Olympic Games. But elite swimmers and their coaches have long argued over which arm motion is more likely to propel an aquatic star toward a gold medal. Rajat Mittal, A Johns Hopkins fluid dynamics expert, has found that the deep catch stroke, resembling a paddle, has the edge over sculling, the bent-arm, propeller-inspired motion.

London 2012 – The Great Olympic Greenwash

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:29:21 +0000

London will soon play host to the 2012 Olympics, which organisers boast will be the most environmentally friendly Games ever. But with the metal for all competitor medals coming from one huge polluting hole in the ground in Utah, could London's 2012 legacy be more greenwash than green? In April of this year, while the 2012 Olympics test events were continuing apace in the pools and stadiums of London, I was with a documentary film crew in Salt Lake City, Utah - driving up, and into, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. With the mercury rising to record levels in this arid corner of the western US, a trip to the Kennecott Copper Mine was less a visitor's tour than it was a fact-finding mission. This year's medals, the largest and heaviest in Olympic history, will be made almost entirely from the raw materials extracted and smelted at the Kennecott Copper Mine, owned by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. But now this mine is also at the centre of a federal lawsuit in the Utah courts, where Rio Tinto Kennecott stands accused of violating the US Clean Air Act for over five years.