AMES, Iowa -- Movies about Olympians can inspire ("Miracle"), motivate ("Chariots of Fire") and even amuse ("Cool Runnings"). But never before has an Olympic movie done all three so well as the documentary "Murderball."
Iowa State screens the critically acclaimed film at 7 p.m., Oct. 11 in the Great Hall, Memorial Union. One week later, at 8 p.m., Oct. 18 in the Great Hall, one of the stars of the movie, Mark Zupan, will give a presentation as part of Iowa State's Disability Days.
Zupan and his quadriplegic teammates in "Murderball" are members of the U.S. Paralympic rugby team that won a bronze medal in the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens, Greece.
These fiercely competitive world-class athletes play a full-contact, hard-nosed sport against the best teams in the world. And they do it while in wheelchairs.
Both the movie and Zupan continue to inspire. Rolling Stone said "Murderball" was "Mesmerizing! Creates a new definition of courage."
And Zupan, a civil engineer from Austin, Texas, was recently named U.S. Quad Rugby Association's Athlete of the Year and is training for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China.