Bob Mathias: Hometown Hero (2008)

We re all familiar with A-Rod, Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant. In Bob Mathias: Hometown Hero, you ll be thrilled by this little-known story of Bob Mathias, one of the huge sports icons of his day. Winning the Olympic Gold Medal for the United States in 1948 at the age of seventeen, and again in 1952, Mathias, who would have tried out for the 1956 games but was barred by the Olympic committee because he starred in a biographical movie, playing himself, went on to become a well-known actor, then a U.S. Congressman. In this fifty- two minute documentary we go to Mathias hometown of Tulare, California to trace his story, and we also go to nearby Fresno to interview Mathias (his last interview ever given before his death in 2006). Bob Mathias was a true American Hero who tried to make a difference.