“Going for Gold – The ’48 Games” is an uplifting true story of how two young men from very different backgrounds triumphed against the odds at the 1948 London Olympics.

That the 1948 games took place at all was astonishing in itself, with Britain still struggling with the damaging after effects of a war that had decimated its resources and left London half-destroyed.

But thanks to a refusal to let the event die, the so-called Austerity Olympics ended up as a major success.

The spirit of a nation determined to get back on its feet is embodied by the journey of boatbuilder’s son Bert Bushnell (Matt Smith, “Doctor Who“) and Eton and Oxford-educated Richard ‘Dickie’ Burnell (Sam Haore, “Jane Eyre”) as they battle to keep their Olympic dreams alive.

This compelling film tells the real-life story of this unlikely pairing of competitors for the double sculling event.

Thrown together just six weeks before the games, Bert and Dickie have to confront and overcome vast differences in their personal and professional lives, as they push themselves to their physical and emotional limits in their bid to win Olympic gold.

Dickie’s background contrasts sharply with Bert’s less privileged upbringing and they struggle to bond as a team before finally realizing that they have more in common than they could have imagined.

Culminating in a tense and exciting race to the finish, this is a film that reminds viewers what the Olympic Games are really about – heroic personal endeavor, courage, determination…and a little bit of luck!