The Phoenix. It lives, dies and rises from the ashes to live again.Such a legend sits close to the heart of the new Netflix documentary ‘Rising Phoenix,’ which follows the story of nine Paralympians. Each featured athlete is on their very different journey to gold medal success with a story to tell and an unwavering appetite to win.It was released in August.
Greg Nugent, marketing director of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012, had the idea of making a documentary on Paralympians for eight years.
The team approached Paralympic athletes, including double gold medalist sprinter Jonnie Peacock. The Briton contracted meningitis when he was five and had to have his right leg amputated as a result.He has since excelled in the 100 meters, in the T44 category, a class which includes athletes with a lower knee amputation.”The vision for the film and just how Greg spoke about the Paralympics was just incredible,” Peacock said .”He had such a vision, such a passion for it. Everything he’s saying was right.”It’s a documentary that makes you want to cry, then laugh, then cry again.
French long jump champion and sprinter Jean-Baptiste Alaize explains how he survived an attack in Burundi during the civil war in 1994, when he was just three.Alaize remembers it as if it was yesterday. He says he chose long jump as a way to “run away from something.”Over the years, Peacock admits he has started “forgetting” about Paralympians’ back stories but the documentary brought that back.”The story of Jean-Baptise Alaize is the best example, because his is the most brutal. It’s the most hard hitting, it’s the most transformative,” Peacock said.