The Weight of Gold (2020)

7.1

A heartbreaking look into the mental toll of becoming an athletic success

HBO Max

Movie

United States of America

English

Documentary

2020

BRETT RAPKIN

Apolo Ohno, Bode Miller, Lolo Jones

60 min

What it's about

Just like one in five Americans, many Olympic athletes similarly face serious mental health challenges and struggle to find the necessary support and resources. The Weight of Gold seeks to inspire discussion about mental health issues, encourage people to seek help, and highlight the need for readily available support.

The take

The Weight of Gold is an extremely impactful insight into what goes through the mind of the highest performing athletes in the world, and focuses how their governing body (the US Olympic Committee) disregards care about their mental health. While it could benefit from going even deeper at times, it does benefit from having some narrative surprises in store—rarely seen in a documentary of this nature. When you least expect it, that gut-punch of a reveal at the end will truly shock and sadden viewers, and will leave one thinking about the film for ages to come.