The story of Rosie Ruiz, who achieved notoriety in 1980 for being disqualified as the female winner of the Boston Marathon when it was ruled she did not actually run the entire race. Includes interviews with Ruiz, men's and women's winners Bill Rodgers and Jacqueline Gareau, and talk with race officials and reporters.
Circa 1990. The Whiz kids took on the Kingpins of Las Vegas. What were the odds that a rat pack of mousy MIT students could take down the luckiest town on earth? A team of Blackjack players comprised of math students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology took aim on the desert. Based on the work of a previous MIT scientist, perhaps players could exploit a hidden odds advantage to the game. These students of secrecy honed the intricacies of card-counting, ready to take their schooling to The Strip. Determined to dodge the surveillance cams, the plan was put in motion. But could they really pull off fooling the casino?
Arnold Schwarzenegger rises from humble beginnings to set new standards in weight training on his way to becoming a top entertainer and the governor of California.
Improper modifications cause a boy to be disqualified from the Soap Box Derby.
In 1991, a young girl from Portland named Tonya Harding would become one of the best figure skaters in the world. She completed what no other American woman had with her performance of a triple axle and was on top of the skatin gworld. Few could predict the road she would travel down just three years later. Caught in an Olympic scandal and ravaged by the media, Harding was banned from the world of professional figure skating. Her life would never be the same.
A profile of "The Magnificent Seven," the gold-medal-winning women's gymnastics team at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. Included are interviews with team members, coaches, and former Olympians Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner.
A profile of Amarillo Slim (born Thomas Austin Preston Jr.), a pool hustler-turned-poker legend who won his first World Series of Poker championship in 1972.
A profile of chess champion Bobby Fischer, who beat the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky for the world title in 1972, but has also achieved notoriety for his eccentric behavior and flouting government regulations.