Al Oerter, one of the few athletes to win four consecutive gold medals in an individual Olympic event (discus, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968), loaned the producers his 1968 gold medal for use in the filming. It was "ruined" Oerter said later in an interview.
The central character of Goldine Serafin is 6-feet 2-inches tall. The actress who plays her, Susan Anton, was 5-foot, 11-inches high, not quite as tall as the Goldengirl she plays. Anton once said of this: "It's probably the first time in my life that I wasn't too tall for something".
John Newcombe: The Australian tennis great as Armitage, a champion tennis pro. The movie was Newcombe's film debut.