General Motors To Honor The Top 10 Greatest Winter Olympians Of All-Time
FOR RELEASE: January 10, 2002Bud Greenspan, General Motors To Honor The Top 10 Greatest Winter Olympians Of All-Time
Greenspan Announces Today His Choices for the Top 25
NEW YORK - On the Olympic stage, the grandest in all of sports, incredible athletes from around the world have thrilled audiences with feats of speed and skill, creating lasting memories and becoming heroes.
In celebration of those athletes, and to mark his legacy to the Olympic Winter Games, award-winning Olympic historian and filmmaker Bud Greenspan has partnered with General Motors -- the official domestic automotive partner of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Team -- to recognize the world's best with a program titled, General Motors Presents Bud Greenspan's 10 Greatest Winter Olympians.
Greenspan, who has produced memorable Olympic films for more than four decades and is the Official Filmmaker for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, is announcing today his choices for the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians of all-time. Ultimately, the 10 Greatest Winter Olympians will be revealed and honored at a series of "countdown" events, featuring Greenspan-produced short films on each of the Top 10. Those events, hosted by General Motors, will take place at the Chevy Hot Zone at the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Greenspan's choices for the Top 25 were culled from the more than 20,000 athletes from around the world who have competed in the Olympic Winter Games over the years. They were personally selected by Greenspan for their performance, longevity, character and innovation or contribution to their individual sport, the Olympic Movement, and in life.
"Throughout the 50 years I have been documenting the Olympic Games, I have been privileged to witness thousands of great athletes compete, who in doing so have honored us all with their courage," said Greenspan, who is serving as the Artistic Director of the Sports Film Series of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC). "But as in all things, there are always those few who stand above the rest, men and women who have inspired us on and off the playing field. They have become legends for all-time."
Steve Tihanyi, Director of Marketing Alliances & Regional Operations, General Motors, said, "This program honors some of the world's greatest athletes, and it could only have been done working with the incomparable Bud Greenspan, a man whose work celebrating the Olympic Spirit is legendary.
"Given recent events, we believe that the world is uniting behind that Olympic Spirit, and we are inspired by the coming together of athletes from around the globe who will compete in Salt Lake," he said.
Bud Greenspan's selections for the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians of all-time are:
Myriam Bedard, Canada, Biathlon; Bonnie Blair, United States, Speed Skating; Dick Button, United States, Figure Skating; Lee-Kyung Chun, Republic of Korea, Short Track Speed Skating; Deborah Compagnoni, Italy, Alpine Skiing; Bjorn Daehlie, Norway, Cross Country Skiing; Peggy Fleming, United States, Figure Skating; Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden, Figure Skating; Eric Heiden, United States, Speed Skating; Sonja Henie, Norway, Figure Skating; Dan Jansen, United States, Speed Skating; Jean-Claude Killy, France, Alpine Skiing; Johann Olav Koss, Norway, Speed Skating; Andrea Mead Lawrence, United States, Alpine Skiing; Eugenio Monti, Italy, Bobsled; Irina Rodnina, Russia, Figure Skating; Birger Ruud, Norway, Ski Jumping; Toni Sailer, Austria, Alpine Skiing; Vreni Schneider, Switzerland, Alpine Skiing; Lydia Skoblikova, Russia, Speed Skating; Alberto Tomba, Italy, Alpine Skiing; Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Great Britain, Figure Skating; Vladislav Tretiak, Russia, Ice Hockey; Ulrich Wehling, Germany, Nordic Combined; Katarina Witt, Germany, Figure Skating.
Bud Greenspan has been called the foremost writer/producer/director of sports films and one of the world's leading sports historians. He has received a George Foster Peabody award and a Director's Guild of America award for lifetime achievement, seven Emmy Awards, and the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee. Both the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the United States Track & Field Association have honored him with Lifetime Achievement Awards for his commitment in capturing the humanity of sport on film. Greenspan is currently in pre-production for the Official Film of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. This will mark the seventh in a series of Official Olympic films, which include the Nagano, Lillehammer and Calgary Olympic Winter Games and the Sydney, Atlanta and Los Angeles Olympic Games.
General Motors, the world's largest vehicle manufacturer and official domestic automotive partner of the U.S. Olympic Team through 2004, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. By providing transportation solutions for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games through its significant commitments to the USOC and the SLOC, General Motors is helping bring the Olympic Spirit to communities everywhere.
