Have you ever watched the Olympics and wondered how athletes continue to break world records? Are human beings becoming stronger and faster or is it the enhanced gear, equipment and facilities that help athletes set record-highs?
The Equalizer
Surely technological developments have helped athletes achieve new heights in human performance, but how much do those sleek suits, shoes, world-class facilities and other equipment factor in? What if we stripped today’s athletes of their modern equipment and had them perform the same event in the conditions as earlier world champions? Now who would win?
We’re excited to announce that we have completed financing and are beginning work on a new TV production that will do just that. We’re calling it The Equalizer because in order to level the playing field we need an equalizer – which in this case is science.
We’ll pit the greatest athletes of today against the greats of the past, and investigate how modern science and technology helps athletes to achieve new peaks of human performance. We are currently seeking out world champion sprinters, swimmers, cyclists, kayakers and other sports in this televised investigation which we will shoot next spring and summer.
As far as we know, this kind of trial, where we test current gear and technology against that of decades past, has never been done on TV before.
But The Equalizer won’t just explore the science of sport. We have a feeling that running a mile in a former great’s shoes will connect our athletes to the accomplishments and struggles of their predecessors in unexpected personal ways.
Let the games begin!
The Equalizer is a coproduction with Berlin Producers for broadcast on CBC Nature of Things, SRC Explora and ZDF Arte and many other international broadcasters.