Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova and four-time Paralympic tennis singles Gold Medalist Esther Vergeer are two of the five legendary athletes featured in the upcoming documentary movie WINNING that will have its World Theatrical Premiere in New York City on Friday, September 8.
WINNING is the compelling and inspiring story of the journeys of Navratilova and Vergeer, golf great Jack Nicklaus, Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci and track and field star Edwin Moses and how they achieved and maintained greatness at the highest level of sport. The film features candid interviews and archival footage of each athlete’s most exciting championship moments, as well as unique “behind-the-scenes” access to their lives on and off the field of play. The film portrays through the words of these all-time greats what kind of mind-set, passion and dedication are needed to become a champion and to remain on top for decades.
The movie will premiere on Friday, September 8 at the Cinepolis Chelsea at 260 West 23rd St. in New York City where it will have a limited run for the following week with four to five screenings per day. Tickets can be purchased in advance here: http://bit.ly/WINSept8
The film is produced and directed by Jacqueline Joseph, the former head of The Arthur Ashe Foundation and Executive Producer for IBM’s first-ever Official Grand Slam tennis tournament websites at the US Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open. A trailer for the film can be seen here: http://bit.ly/WINFILMTrailer)
“WINNING is a film that shines a spotlight on five of the greatest athletes in sports history,” said Joseph. “The revealing stories that these athletes share in WINNING speak to everyone, young and old, on the court and outside the lines… because as they say, ‘sports is a metaphor for life.’”
In WINNING, these iconic athletes reminisce about the highs and lows of their careers and share a unique and intimate window into their lives. The film features rare archival footage of the athletes’ childhoods, as well as some of their most memorable and historic moments at the Olympics, Wimbledon, The Masters, US Open, British Open and The Paralympics.
The film also features interviews with the athletes’ families, coaches, agents and competitors including Olympic Gold Medalists Bart Conner and Derrick Adkins, track and field Olympians Benn Fields and Herb Douglas, tennis star Pam Shriver, legendary coaches Sven Groeneveld and Robert Lansdorp, Duke University Professor of Sports Psychology Greg Dale, Barbara Nicklaus, Jana Navratilova and former Olympic gymnastics coach Paul Ziert.
Navratilova is the most prolific winner of tennis titles in the professional era of tennis. She holds the records for the most singles (167) and doubles titles (177) won by a professional tennis player. She won 18 major singles titles, a record 31 major women’s doubles titles and 10 mixed doubles titles, including her final title at the age of 49 at the U.S. Open. She ranked as the No. 1 player in the world for a total of 332 weeks in singles and a record 237 weeks in doubles. The 2017 U.S. Open marks the 30th anniversary of her becoming the last player to sweep the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at a major championship.
Vergeer has been described as the most dominant athlete in professional sports, losing only 25 matches in her 17-year career in wheelchair tennis. She won 42 Grand Slam tournaments, 22 year-end championships and seven Paralympic gold medals, including four in singles. She was the No. 1 player in the world from 1999 to her retirement in 2013, not losing a match in 10 years, winning the last 470 matches she played.
Nicklaus is regarded as the greatest golfer to ever play the game, winning a record 18 professional major titles, including a record six Masters titles, a record-tying four U.S. Open titles and a record-tying five PGA Championships. Equally as impressive is that Nicklaus finished as the runner-up at 19 other major championships while winning 73 career PGA Tour titles.
Comaneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 during her famous performance at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. She earned a total of seven perfect 10s in Montreal en route to winning three gold medals for Romania. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, she won two more gold medals, concluding her career with nine total Olympic medals and four World Championship medals.
Moses won gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals and 122 consecutive races, setting the world record in the event four times.
More information on the film can be found at www.thewinningfilm.com and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thewinningfilm and Twitter at www.twitter.com/thewinningfilm and Instagram at www.instagram.com/thewinningfilm
