Trailer For HBO's THE WEIGHT OF GOLD Focuses on on The Pressure Put on Olympic Athletes
HBO has released a trailer for its upcoming documentary The Weight of Gold. The powerful doc explores the intense pressures that Olympic athletes find themselves under as well as the mental health challenges they are faced with when it’s all over. As you’ll see, the athletes who participated in the doc share their deep and personal experiences and get into the grittiness of it.
Here’s the synopsis that was shared for the film:
In a typical year, more than 3.6 billion people globally tune in to watch the Olympic Games. What most of these viewers don’t know is that just like one in five Americans, many of these Olympic athletes similarly face serious mental health challenges and struggle to find the necessary support and resources. The Weight of Gold seeks to inspire discussion about mental health issues, encourage people to seek help, and highlight the need for readily available support. It features accounts from Olympic athletes who share their own struggles with mental health issues, including Michael Phelps, Jeremy Bloom, Lolo Jones, Gracie Gold, Bode Miller, Shaun White, Sasha Cohen, David Boudia, Katie Uhlaender, and, posthumously, Steven Holcomb and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (via his mother, Linda Peterson).
The film comes from director Brett Rapkin (Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey, Holy Land Hardball, On the Clock: The NFL Draft, and also Welcome to Dodgertown). HBO tends to produce compelling documentaries and this one looks like it’s going to be a good one. The Weight of Gold is streaming on HBO starting on July 29th.