Olympic Channel launches year-long docu-series “All Around”

Featuring the United States’ Morgan Hurd, Russian Federation’s Angelina Melnikova and China’s Chen Yile, the behind-the-scenes documentary series premieres Tuesday, 6 August with new episodes released monthly on the IOC’s Olympic Channel which is available worldwide at olympicchannel.com, its mobile apps and on connected TV devices.

Character-driven and full of personality, All Around is a ground-breaking, cutting-edge series which follows three of the world's top gymnasts from three different countries in pursuit of the same dream – Olympic gold.

Interweaving the stories and parallel journeys of Hurd, Melnikova and Chen, All Around provides viewers with unprecedented access to these elite athletes and everyday teenagers as they balance their personal lives, training regimens and competitions throughout the year and culminating at Tokyo 2020.

“I am so excited and grateful to have the opportunity to participate in this series with Olympic Channel,” said Hurd, 18, the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics All-Around World Champion from the USA. “I hope to share with viewers a behind the scenes look at what really goes on off the competition floor and to bring about a new understanding for how mentally and physically challenging gymnastics is. Fans are going to get to see in All Around the most important year of my life.”

"I’m so excited about this series,” said Melnikova, 19, who is already a team silver medallist at Rio 2016, is a two-time Russian national all-around champion and the 2019 European Games Women’s All-Around Champion from the town of Voronezh. “The cameras will be following me everywhere, and I’m really looking forward to sharing what it’s like to be a top gymnast. Especially in such an important year ahead of Tokyo 2020!"

“I am very excited to show the world what it’s like to train as one of the Chinese gymnastics athletes pursuing Olympic dreams as part of the Olympic Channel series All Around,” said Chen, 17, the 2018 Asian Games Women’s All-Around Champion who was born in Jiangxi, China. “I look forward to the next 12 months as I work hard day-by-day to achieve my dream of representing my country proudly at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”

In addition to monthly digital episodes, fans can access additional content on the gymnasts’ road to Tokyo on social media. Athletes will be creating and posting exclusive content such as diaries and personal photos across their social media handles allowing fans to follow their progress in real-time.

“Over the course of the next year, All Around will bring fans closer to these Tokyo 2020 hopefuls and invite them to be a part of their lives as they pursue their Olympic dreams,” said Mark Parkman, General Manager of the IOC’s global Olympic Channel. “Morgan Hurd, Angelina Melnikova and Chen Yile are all incredibly talented gymnasts whose engaging personalities and stories of their incredible efforts and sacrifices are sure to inspire fans and audiences worldwide.”

All Around is produced exclusively for the Olympic Channel by Noah Media Group. Noah Media Group is a London based, multi award-winning production and film company, recognised for exceptional creativity which has culminated in numerous international awards and nominations, some of which include: Official Selection Cannes, BAFTA single documentary, Royal Television Society and Grierson Documentary.

Offering year-round coverage of Olympic sports and elite athletes in their quest for success, the Olympic Channel over-the-top (OTT) service is available worldwide and subscription-free at olympicchannel.com, its mobile apps and on connected TV devices.