7.2/1055 votes#1 - Venus vs.
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 7/2/2013
Venus vs. is the first episode of the 2013 documentary TV series Nine for IX.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1056 votes
#2 - Pat XO
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 7/9/2013
No description available
Director: Lisa Lax, Nancy Stern Winters
Writer: N/A
- 7.3/1040 votes
#3 - Let Them Wear Towels
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 7/16/2013
Lisa Olson was just trying to do her job as a reporter for the Boston Herald in 1990 when a group of New England Patriot players sexually harassed her in their locker room by exposing their genitals and making lewd and vulgar comments. Even though a subsequent NFL investigation concluded that Olson had been "degraded and humiliated," the 25-year-old continued to be tormented by Patriot fans -- so much so that she temporarily moved to Australia to resume her career. AP Photo/Steven Senne Lisa Olson's legal case was one that helped pave the way for women to report without harassment in locker rooms. The incident touched off a national debate about the presence of female journalists in the male sanctum of the clubhouse. That debate should have been settled 12 years earlier, when Melissa Ludtke of Sports Illustrated successfully challenged Major League Baseball after she was kept out of the New York Yankees' locker room. Why has equal access for women reporters remained such a hot-button issue? That question is asked in "Let Them Wear Towels," a history and examination of females working in the man's world of the locker room. Through interviews with such pioneer women as Ludtke, Claire Smith, Lesley Visser and Christine Brennan, you'll hear stories of raw behavior and humorous retaliation, angry lawsuits and remarkable resolve.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1069 votes
#4 - No Limits
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 7/23/2013
As a teenager, Audrey Mestre suffered from scoliosis, but in those formative years, she discovered a passion for the ocean. It offered her a sense of freedom, and the burdens she faced on dry land soon dissipated as she slipped below the surface. In the final stages of her Ph.D., Mestre was drawn to Cabo San Lucas, where she became infatuated with free diver Pipin Ferreras, a Cuban defector whose dives had put him at the forefront of the sport. The two became a couple, and Mestre followed the often elusive, often raucous Ferreras on his almost spiritual quest to push his limits underwater. Soon enough, Mestre moved from support team member to ardent free diver and then to a world-class competitor who outshone her husband. In 2002, after news arrived that a rival female diver named Tanya Streeter had successfully gone to a record-breaking 525 feet, Ferreras began preparations for Mestre to make a 561-foot dive off the coast of the Canary Islands. Having completed practice dives even deeper in the weeks leading up to the record attempt, Mestre was prepared. But because of a fateful decision before the dive, Mestre never resurfaced alive.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/1030 votes
#5 - Swoopes
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 7/30/2013
Sheryl Swoopes has famously been labeled the female Michael Jordan. Actually, she's far more interesting. On the court, she was nearly as dominant as Jordan, winning a national championship with Texas Tech, three Olympic gold medals, three MVP awards and four consecutive championships with the Houston Comets of the WNBA, the league she helped start. She even had a Nike shoe named after her, the Air Swoopes. Off the court, she gave birth to her son, Jordan, in the middle of her first WNBA championship season. Later, she divorced her high school sweetheart and became the highest-profile athlete in her sport to declare she was gay. She has struggled with love, family, money and lack of recognition, but she has never lost her spirit. In this portrait, you will meet someone who is not your everyday superstar, a woman who has defied a multitude of labels, including old-- in August 2011, Swoopes, at 40, hit a buzzer-beater to end the Tulsa Shock's 20-game losing streak.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1027 votes
#6 - The Diplomat
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 8/6/2013
At the height of the Cold War, Katarina Witt became one of East Germany's most famous athletes. Trained in an ice rink that gave rise to socialist heroes, Witt dominated her field by winning six European skating titles, five world championships and back-to-back Olympic gold medals, becoming arguably the world's best figure skater. Known as "the most beautiful face of socialism," her success gave her a unique status in East Germany. It also triggered constant surveillance by the Stasi, East Germany's notorious secret police force. This film chronicles how Witt fought for her future in socialist East Germany, faced the great changes that occurred after the fall of the Berlin wall and ultimately ended up both a beneficiary and victim of the East German regime.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1027 votes
#7 - Runner
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 8/13/2013
The expectations for American distance runner Mary Decker were sky high as she lined up to make her Olympic debut in the 3,000 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. After all, Decker had displayed unwavering dominance in every distance from the 800 to 10,000 meters. Her wholesome image graced magazine covers and adorned walls all over the world. And at the age of 25, this was her first Olympics: stress fractures in her leg had kept her out of the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the U.S. boycott prevented her from competing in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. So the 3,000 was to be her coronation, the gold medal that would validate her greatness. As fate would have it, though, there was another compelling figure in the race, a 19-year-old barefooted South African running for Great Britain, Zola Budd. Just past the midway point of the race, Budd crowded Decker on the inside lane, and in the panic and urgency of the moment, they collided. Decker fell to the track with a look of anguish. Budd would regain her stride but finish a distant seventh behind the winner, Romanian Maricica Puica. Decker initially blamed Budd, but in later years they reconciled and tried to get past the collision. Still, the one moment of heartbreak came to define what should have been a glorious career.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1067 votes
#8 - The '99ers
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 8/20/2013
The world of women's sports was kicked upside down on July 10, 1999. Before a sold-out crowd of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl and an estimated 40 million Americans watching on television, the women's soccer team reached a cultural and athletic pinnacle with its penalty-kick shootout victory against China to win the Women's World Cup. These players were more than the ponytailed poster girls celebrated by mainstream media. As told through the voice of a longtime team captain Julie Foudy, we get an inside look at the strong team ethic and rare "do for each other" mentality that propelled the squad to victory and turned it into a cultural touchstone. With unprecedented access, the film uses candid, behind-the-scenes footage shot by the players themselves during the tournament to present a unique portrait of the women who irrevocably changed the face of women's athletics. Reuniting key players from the 1999 squad and talking with current U.S. players, the film will examine how women's soccer -- and women's sports as a whole -- has changed since that epic day.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1039 votes
#9 - Branded
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 8/27/2013
Sports is supposed to be the ultimate level playing field, but in the media and on Madison Avenue, sometimes looks matter more than accomplishments. This film explores the double standard placed on female athletes to be the best players on the field and the sexiest off of it. Through stories of the women who have faced and tackled this question in very different ways, "Branded" explores the question: can women's sports ever gain an equal footing with their male counterparts or will sex appeal always override achievement?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Nine for IX Season 1
Every episode of Nine for IX Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Nine for IX Season 1!
Nine for IX is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX. The documentaries are...
Network:ESPN
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Venus vs." is the best rated episode of "Nine for IX" season 1. It scored 7.2/10 based on 55 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 7/2/2013. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Pat XO".