Product Description

As the world prepares for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a new documentary chronicles the inspiring story of the tiny town that gave America its greatest Olympic triumph. Lake Placid: An Olympic History traces the rise of Lake Placid, New York, from an unknown mountain village to the home of two Winter Olympics and the U.S. Hockey Team's Miracle on Ice. As the site of the nation's first winter resort at the turn of the century, Lake Placid boasted some of the nation's top winter athletes when it hosted the Third Winter Olympics in 1932. As the decades passed and the Games expanded, some felt the Olympics had grown too large for this tiny Adirondack village. But they underestimated the spirit of the townspeople. Lake Placid: An Olympic History chronicles how the town's 2,800 residents persevered through hardship and returned the Games to their small-town roots. The result, in 1980, was the Miracle on Ice, Eric Heiden's five gold medals, and America's most memorable Winter Olympic Games. Blending rare audio recordings with archival films and photographs, Lake Placid: An Olympic History is the story of America's Winter Sports Capital - where the spirit of the Olympics lives on, every day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57065 in DVD
• Published on: 2006-02-10
• Released on: 2006-02-10
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Adirondack Daily Enterprise
"Inspiring and impassioned. This film is easy to love."

Customer Reviews

America's Winter Olympics Come Alive
Armchair Olympic fans will love this! Great vintage newsreel footage from America's first Winter Olympics perfectly woven together with film from America's greatest Winter Olympics. The best thing...they both took place in the same small Adirondack Village! The III Olympic Winter Games held in 1932 saw the USA win every speed skating event and both bobsleigh events, a record that has never been equaled. Great original film captures so much of the excitement of the day. However, the real story of America's original winter resort truly comes together with the XIII Olympic Winter Games held in Lake Placid in 1980. Reliving the "Miracle on Ice" USA hockey victory and Eric Heiden's 5 gold medal performace in speed skating is something you'll never forget. The footage of what went on behind the scenes to make each Olympic Games a success adds a realism that you don't find in many documentaries. A great production!

The Spirit of the Olympics
from "Legacies of North American Winter Games: Lake Placid 1980," a report commissioned by the Vancouver Olympics Organizing Committee:

Former Lake Placid News reporter Marc Nathanson made an excellent documentary on the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games, called "Lake Placid: An Olympic History," unearthing rare footage and tape recordings that detail the history of the town and give an excellent idea of the nature of its Olympic Games. Its conclusion sums up the Lake Placid experience superbly:

"Over the course of a century Lake Placid has grown from an unknown mountain village into America's winter sports capital, driven by a can-do attitude and an unshakable spirit. It's the same spirit you see in the eyes of a young figure skater practicing her routine late at night in the Olympic Center or in the determined gaze of a luge racer about to take an early-morning practice run down the Mount Van Hoevenberg track. It is the spirit of the Olympics - the reason why Lake Placid is home to some of the greatest moments in sports history, and all those historic moments yet to come."

A masterpiece on Lake Placid
What a wonderful documentary. It is greatly detailed with wonderful footage and photographs. If you don't know much about Lake Placid or why so many people love this little town, you will after watching this production. It was very well done and I don't think you'll find any other good source about Lake Placid. You get the feeling that you were right there while these events were happening. The Rev. Bernie Fell sums it up best."How does a little like this command so much attention, why are you so different from every other small snowbell town. It is people who dream dreams. People whos interest lie not in personal fame and glory, but in building better things for yet a better time.