ESPN's documentary crew digs into John du Pont, the lonely, wealthy, eccentric guy who recruited an world-class wrestling squad to train in his backyard and then gradually lost his mind to paranoia. We get really in-depth for a fifty-minute feature, learning of du Pont's strange obsessions and mental deterioration, plus the intense mix of dedication and desperation that led his team to overlook the red flags and continue training at his facility.
To this day, nobody really knows why John icily shot down his head trainer and friend, gold medalist Dave Schultz, but the warning signs were all there. Several former teammates still show deep personal remorse, twenty years later, for passively brushing aside du Pont's mania, though in hindsight everything is crystal clear. In the moment, preparing in earnest for the '96 Olympics, their minds were understandably elsewhere. A tragic story from all angles, even the villain's, with an especially difficult final chapter.
To this day, nobody really knows why John icily shot down his head trainer and friend, gold medalist Dave Schultz, but the warning signs were all there. Several former teammates still show deep personal remorse, twenty years later, for passively brushing aside du Pont's mania, though in hindsight everything is crystal clear. In the moment, preparing in earnest for the '96 Olympics, their minds were understandably elsewhere. A tragic story from all angles, even the villain's, with an especially difficult final chapter.
