BRIAN OLDFIELD
For legal and technical reasons Brian Oldfield was not allowed to compete in the 1984 Olympics but Kodak still used him in a commercial I was filming. I think they took a risk since decisions were not final at the time. Oldfield was a kind of bad boy, but a record holder and innovator in his sport of the shot put.
The Los Angeles area had improved many venues around the cities so athletes could train for their events in a first class way. We were filming in one of the new venues east of Los Angeles and the track coach looked at the setups proudly. Brian was in the cement ring and was dropping the shot on the new concrete and watching the dust fly. The coach asked me to tell him not to drop the shot as he didn’t want the new concrete damaged. I went over to Brian and told him what the coach had asked me.
‘He doesn’t want me to drop the shot?’
‘No.’
BRIAN DROPS THE SHOT. DUST FLIES.
‘Like this.’
‘Yeah. He doesn’t want you to drop the shot.’
‘You mean he doesn’t want me to do this.’
BRIAN DROPS THE SHOT AGAIN. DUST FLIES.
‘I don’t think so.’
BRIAN DROPS THE SHOT…AGAIN.
I turn to look at the coach. He is gone.
LATER.
Two cute female runners shyly pass and comment to Brian.
‘Why are your muscles so big?’
‘So I can fuck both of you at one time standing up!’
THEY RUN AWAY.