Here are the previews and rundowns for a couple compelling films during NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.
Long Way Home: The Jessica Strong Story
Paralympic athlete Jessica Long will be the subject of a 20-minute feature, Long Way Home: The Jessica Long Story, that will air within NBC’s Olympic coverage Saturday night.
Long Way Home chronicles the story of Long, a world-class swimmer, 12-time Paralympic gold medalist, and 21-year old American from a Baltimore suburb, who was born in Russia and adopted by American parents. The feature tracks Long’s journey from the States to Siberia – Baltimore to Bratsk – to meet her birth family.
A double amputee and a Russian-born orphan, Jessica Long has grown up as two people simultaneously, a dedicated and determined young woman who has used that drive to become one of the most-decorated U.S. Paralympians and also someone who, from 13 months old at her adoption from a Russian orphanage, has longed to know who she really is.
Over the course of Long Way Home: The Story of Jessica Long, Long tells the remarkable story of how she discovered her first family, and eventually embarked on a journey through a past she never knew. Originally named Tatiana Olegovna Kirillova, Long retraces her adoption back to her orphanage in Irkutsk, Russia, and on to what would have been her hometown of Bratsk, deep in the heart of Siberia. It’s here that we see the overwhelming moment where she comes face-to-face for the first time, not only with her birth mother, but her biological father, brothers and sisters – the Russian family she had never met.
It’s an adventure that takes her more than 7,000 miles from the world and family she grew up knowing. From the States to Siberia, the journey is a test for her physically and mentally, but through it all Long poignantly takes us through the process of coming to grips with her Russian roots. In the end it leads her to a profound personally discovery, her two half’s have helped make her the whole individual that she is – Jessica Tatiana Long.
A production team from NBC Olympics accompanied Long on a three-day journey to reach the adoption center in Irkutsk and the 18-hour train ride to Bratsk.
ABOUT JESSICA LONG
Born with fibular hemimelia, the lower part of Long’s legs were amputated when she was 18 months old. She learned to walk on prosthesis. Now a 17-time Paralympic medalist – including 12 gold medals – Long holds 13 world records and is a two-time U.S. Paralympic Sports Woman of the Year.
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Lokomotiv
NBC Olympics will present a special documentary – “Lokomotiv” – chronicling the tragedy surrounding the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey club, as well as the rebuilding of the team, as the worldwide hockey community banded with the Russian city to revive one of hockey’s richest traditions. The special will air Saturday, Feb. 22 within NBC’s afternoon Olympic coverage.
The NBC Olympics-produced documentary, narrated by Liev Schreiber, examines the tragic events surrounding Sept. 7, 2011, when an airplane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), crashed outside the Russian city of Yaroslavl, killing 44 of 45 people on board, including 37 players, coaches and staff. Nearly 100,000 people attended a memorial service, including Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The roster and coaching staff included 11 hometown players, and the following nine former NHLers; Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Alexander Vasunov, assistant coaches Alexander Karpovtsev and Igor Korolev, and head coach Brad McCrimmon.
In addition, the team featured five Olympians from five different countries; Demitra (Slovakia), Salei (Belarus), Vasicek (Czech Republic), Skrastins (Latvia), and Stefan Liv (Sweden). Demitra, Salei, and Skrastins all served as captains of their respective teams at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.
Here is a link to the clip.