Small Town, Big Dreams: Lake Placid's Olympic Story

A tiny town in the heart of New York's Adirondack Mountains held the world's premier winter sports event not just once, but twice, and gave the nation the Miracle On Ice. In 1932 Lake Placid hosted the Third Winter Olympics in the midst of the Great Depression, and over the next five decades this town of less than 3,000 people fought to bring the Games back. They succeeded with the 1980 Winter Olympics, where Eric Heiden won a record five gold medals on the speed skating oval outside the local high school, and an upstart team of young U.S. hockey players chocked the Soviet powerhouse in the greatest moment in American sports. Featuring newly restored footage and rare audio recordings, Small Town, Big Dreams tells how residents of one tiny village helped make dreams come true, and turned Lake Placid into a winter sports capital.

Production Companies

Marc Nathanson ProductionsStonecircle Films

Sundial Pictures