Synopsis
The System
At the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, host nation China is poised to win more gold medals than any other country. For some this may come as a surprise, but for anyone who has grown up in the Chinese sports school system, becoming an Olympic champion is the anticipated result of a life spent in training. Groomed from an extremely young age, thousands of Chinese children are sent to sports schools funded and regulated by the government, where they are strictly trained under immense pressure with the hopes that they will go on to athletic glory. With less than two months to go before the Olympic Games commence, Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel heads to China to provide an inside look into the Chinese sports school system.
Last Licks
When the U.S. Women's Softball team entered the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, they went from unknown athletes to "golden girls" overnight in softball's first-ever appearance as an Olympic sport. Now, after only 12 years, the International Olympic Committee has chosen to remove softball from the Olympic Games after 2008, making it the first sport to be eliminated in more than 70 years. While many believe this decision reflects the game's lack of international appeal, others wonder if it was aimed more directly at the U.S. for reasons unrelated to sports. Correspondent Andrea Kremer investigates this unfortunate situation and visits with members of the U.S. Women's Softball team as they prepare for what could likely be their final Olympic competition.
Clean Slate
While sitting in a French jail cell in 2004, British cyclist David Millar wondered how his life had arrived at this point. Considered one of the top riders in the world, Millar was living his dream until French police searched his home and found used syringes of the performance-enhancing hormone EPO. In an instant, his life was in ruins. After a brief stay in jail, he subsequently admitted to doping, gave up his world championship medal and was suspended from cycling for two years. Today, Millar is a new man whose search for personal and cycling redemption has led him to a new team that's single-handedly instituted one of the toughest anti-doping programs in sports. Correspondent Jon Frankel reports in this Real Sports/Sports Illustrated collaboration.
Out to Stud
On the idyllic grounds of Overbrook Farm in Lexington, Ky., prized stallion Storm Cat, a descendant of celebrated Triple Crown winner Secretariat, spends his retirement quietly out to pasture. When Real Sports first met Storm Cat in 2005, he was the most sought-after thoroughbred sire in horse racing, and it was easy to see why - Storm Cat's offspring have earned more than $100 million at the track. Demanding a stud fee of $500,000 per session, Storm Cat brought his owners hundreds of millions of dollars from eager breeders looking to cash in on his proven genetic strength. Three years later, correspondent Bernard Goldberg revisits the billion-dollar business of horse breeding and finds that even with Storm Cat now retired, it's still a high-stakes game that must be seen to be believed.
