The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas-Ex Jill Sterkel featured in USA Swimming’s "The Last Gold" documentary
07.11.2016 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Film tells the story of the U.S. women's 4x100m freestyle relay that stunned the heavily-favored East Germans at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Jill Sterkel was the rare athlete who made a dynamic impact on the world of sport as a teenager, long before she competed at a collegiate or professional level. She enjoyed a decorated swimming career at The University of Texas (1980-83) and succeeded well beyond her college years in the professional ranks. But perhaps it was her final swim of her first Olympics as a 15-year-old southern Californian that counted as her most impactful performance.
East Germany's women's swimming team won all but one individual event at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal leading up to the final swimming event, the 4x100m freestyle relay.
With the gold and silver medalists in the 100m freestyle on the relay for East Germany, who had run roughshod over the competition in Montreal, it stood to reason that the East Germans were well on their way to another gold medal. But Sterkel, who became a first-time U.S. Olympian three years before enrolling at UT, and American teammates Kim Peyton, Wendy Boglioli and Shirley Babashoff had other ideas.
The U.S. quartet stunned the world and won the gold medal in the relay while East Germany, a team later revealed to have benefited from performance-enhancing drugs, settled for silver. The U.S. victory, still considered one of the most improbable wins of all-time in Olympic swimming history, is the subject of "The Last Gold", a USA Swimming-produced documentary that premiered last month at the LA Film Festival and runs in select theaters nationwide tonight.
"I think it's phenomenal," said Sterkel of the opportunity to help share the winning relay's story. "It's been very cathartic. I think it's important not just for the relay but for the whole (U.S.) women's team to be recognized. It's 40 years later, but I think it's never too late to set the record straight, tell a story and share how amazing the feat was."
Directed by Brian T. Brown and narrated by actress Julianna Margulies, the film features commentary and insight from many of the central figures of the 1976 Olympic swimming competition, including Sterkel.
The two showings in Austin tonight are sold out, though an additional show time has been scheduled for Thursday night (July 14) in Austin. For more information on the film plus national show times and locations, visit the home page for The Last Gold here.
