Sports doc series features Emmy-winner Brian Brown's film on the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women’s Swim Team

The Marist College Center for Sports Communication and the Media Studies and Production Department will present a screening and Q&A with the director of The Last Gold, a film about the heated competition between the U.S. and East German swim teams amidst a notorious doping controversy surrounding the East German program.

This screening is part of the Center’s Sports Documentary Filmmaker Series that brings sports documentarians to campus to screen and discuss their films. After screening “The Last Gold,” the film’s director Brian Brown will answer questions from the audience. This screening and discussion will take place in Marist’s Student Center, Room 3101. The event is free and open to the public. 

The documentary tells the little-known story of the U.S. Women’s Swim Team at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics where, after being soundly defeated by the East German team throughout the competition, the U.S. 4x100 freestyle relay team came back to upset the East Germans and win an unlikely gold medal, their only one of the Olympic competition.

"The Last Gold" screening and director Q&A
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Murray Student Center, Room 3101
Free and open to the public
Click here to see a trailer for "The Last Gold"

The film highlights the strength and resilience of the American swimmers who overcame nearly impossible odds. It also documents the systematic drug use that marred these Olympic Games and the challenges of creating fair competition, particularly in the Cold War era, before the sophisticated drug testing mechanisms of today’s Olympics. The film also discusses the larger scandals that were later revealed involving the East German sports machine, which included widespread drug use, various forms of abuse, and unethical experimentation on young athletes. The Last Gold examines the dark side of using sport and athletes as political weapons.

The film is directed by Brian Brown, a 15-time Emmy Award winner, who has more than 25 years of experience in television and media, including work at CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, TBS, ESPN and HBO, and 12 years of Olympic Broadcasting experience, including the 1976 Montreal Olympics.