Olympiad

Buck is invited to fly an authentic 20th century Olympic flag at the 2492 Olympics on behalf of the Earth Defense Directorate, and takes Twiki and Dr. Theopolis along with him to the games. Buck finds that the Olympics have changed in 500 years, however – simple events have become mind-boggling, gravity-defying feats, and some of the off-world contestants have unusual customs, including one young man who refuses to speak to Buck and then appears to experience severe pain. A young woman competing in the astrosledding event gives Buck a taste of high-speed orbital racing, but also uses the isolation of her sled pod to plead for Buck’s help in freeing her and her boyfriend, the young man who demanded that Buck leave him alone, from the stranglehold their manager has on them. She officially requests asylum, and Buck gets approval from Dr. Huer before proceeding. But in doing so, he’s put himself in the crosshairs of a manager who intends to keep his athletes – or kill them before they can defect.

written by Craig Buck
directed by Larry Stewart
music by J.J. Johnson

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Nicolas Coster (Allerick), Judith Chapman (Lara Teasian), Barney McFadden (Jorex Leet), Paul Mantee (Karl), Elgin Baylor (Athlete), Anthony Davis (Athlete), Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson (Athlete), Carlos Palomino (Athlete), Jerry Quarry (Quarod), Bob Seagren (Rand Sorgon), Paul Coufos (Zogan), John Zee (Satrap)

Notes: This episode’s guest stars have years of professional football, basketball and boxing experience, including real-life Olympian Thomas Henderson, who was on the U.S. basketball team in the 1972 Olympics. Former boxing champ Carlos Palomino had a later brush with science fiction as well – he helped to train actor Robert Beltran for the Star Trek: Voyager episode The Fight, which involved Chakotay boxing with an alien.