All-New Episode Of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL Debuts February 22
Media Release

All-New Episode Of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL Debuts February 22

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

HBO’s REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL returns with an all-new episode on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT). The series debuts on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.            

For up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports, and on HBO.com/realsports and Facebook.com/RealSportsHBO.       

February segments include:

  • SLED TRAUMA: There is a dark side to Olympic sliding sports like Bobsled and Skeleton that casual fans of the Beijing Winter Games know little about: many former and current athletes have suffered major head trauma participating in these sports, suffering the same kinds of injuries normally associated with football players. The trauma is caused not only by major collisions, but also by small hits often referred to as “sled head,” caused by speed, whiplash and vibration of the ice. Jon Frankel reports. Producer: Chapman Downes.
     
  • BITCOIN BEACH: For decades, a small seaside village in El Salvador called El Zonte has been a mecca for surfers from around the world. But in recent years, tourists have been flooding to El Zonte to ride the Bitcoin wave after a group of avid surfers-turned-Bitcoin evangelists transformed the town into “Bitcoin Beach,” a hub for cryptocurrency as a potential solution to uplift locals out of poverty. Mary Carillo reports. Producer: Max Gershberg.
     
  • OPIOID ABUSE IN YOUNG ATHLETES: Seven years ago, Real Sports explored the issue of young, injured athletes who are prescribed powerful opioid painkillers that can lead to heroin addiction. Sadly, one of the addicted young athletes featured in the 2015 segment, Donny Allieri, suffered an overdose last summer after years of sobriety.  In this revisit, Real Sports interviews Donny’s mother about her son’s battle with drugs and the disease that took his life. Soledad O’Brien reports. Producer: Evan Burgos.

The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Joe Perskie.

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