Serena Williams' recent Australian Open run certainly inspired talk on her status as a Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) contender. While I generally don't pay much attention to such discussions - too many variables, such different eras to be fair - the chatter inspired me to revisit the HBO Sports documentary mini-series Being Serena from 2018.

Produced in part with Williams' business partner IMG Entertainment, Being Serena was never going to be an in-depth, critical look at one of history's greatest athletes. But it is a revealing one. Too often we see a star athlete or celebrity as one dimensional, as just the person on the court or on stage. Williams has surely been subject to this - having seen her win 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam doubles titles (out of 14 finals!), 7 WTA Tour Championship titles, and 4 Olympic gold medals, we've been lulled into a sense of her invincibility. But Being Serena shows that Williams is human, after all, perhaps even setting us up to temper expectations going forward.

Being Serena shows us Williams facing real world, outside of tennis, moments from a roughly 15-month period starting with her early 2017 pregnancy announcement to child birth, to subsequent grave medical concerns, and her wedding. There is a refreshing quality seeing her face these life events. She has legitimate concerns aside from the playing court, and she faces them with as any of us would - at times emotional and vulnerable. No matter that the documentary comes across as too polished for some critics. What we do see is earnest and sincere.

Seeing her in this human light actually does support Williams as the G.O.A.T. Coming back to elite competition, in serious contention to build upon her 23 Grand Slam titles...who else has been that strong to come back from such a complicated birth and perilous recovery so well? It's a unique, daunting challenge fit for a fierce competitor. Note when her husband Alexis jokingly suggests their daughter's potential as a Grand Slam winner years in the future, Williams is whip-quick with a "not if I'm still playing" retort. Brash, sure...but it should not be unexpected from someone as career-determined as she is.

Between her return in May 2018 and today, she's made four Grand Slam finals. Four! Never mind that she hasn't won one of them, just having the tenacity to make it through to four finals - and this last Australian semifinals - would be a beyond outstanding record for anyone. And she's largely done it on her terms, juggling motherhood and marriage while on the road. It's a unique challenge, it should noted, to female athletes.

​She doesn't need a 24th title to justify her legacy (though I am rooting for it). The fact that she's still sharing her tennis with us should a joy. In retrospective, Being Serena helps us to appreciate just how special a competitor Williams is. Here's hoping she provides us more highlights still.

Beach volleyball star Anastasija Kravcenoka stays positive.

Ester Ledecka takes a day off from the slopes.

Canoeist David Llorente finds a peaceful spot.

Serena Williams steps down the stairs.

Lourdes Mohedano works it.

All you need to know about the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, courtesy of FIS. Check out event previews and highlight athletes to watch.

Track & Field News catches up with Rio 2016 1,500 meter champion Matthew Centrowitz, favored to lead the United States in the event at Tokyo 2020.

Sprint hurdler Grant Holloway is now a world record holder!

Need a primer on soon-to-be Olympic surfing? The International Surfing Association's The State of Olympic Surfing profiles the sport and its star athletes as the countdown to Tokyo continues.

Olympic medalist judoka Sally Conway announces a surprise retirement, ending a career that also included World, Commonwealth, and European medals.

Already an Olympic swimming superstar, Katie Ledecky is planning to make a big splash at Tokyo 2020.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali gets another posthumous honor with the release of a series of trading cards by Topps, starting with a commemoration of his Rome 1960 gold medal triumph.

She's already an Olympic legend, but gymnast Oksana Chusovitina is on track to appear at her eighth (!) Games and still be a medal threat.

Chusovitina isn't the only veteran looking to make waves in today's gymnastics. AP looks at 2005 world champion Chellsie Memmel's planned comeback. And, Marian Dragalescu is set to become the oldest male Olympic gymnast ever at Tokyo 2020.

Nominees for the 2021 Laureus World Sports Awards are out, and feature a number of Olympic sports athletes, including Rafael Nadal, Mondo Duplantis, Lebron James, Wendie Renard, Brigid Kosgei, Kento Momota, and may more. The awards, celebrating athletes'"impact on society" will be announced in early May. Congrats to all!

Ahead of his medal-winning mass start race at last weekend's World Championships, Olympic.org spoke with biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet about his drive and inspiration from fellow French sport legends. 

2020 Tour de France green jersey champion Sam Bennett wins an Irish accolade for his accomplishments last year.

Italian short track speed skater Martina Valcepina is In the Spotlight as ISU.org looks at how she is managing training in a pandemic-challenged bubble.

Olympians Gevvie Stone and Kara Kohler headline the U.S. Olympic Trials for rowing this week, as they vie for a single spot on the team in the women's single scull boat. "It's very exciting. It's also very nerve-wracking."

Get to know Colombian track sprinter and surprise world championship medalist Anthony Zambrano a bit better, courtesy of World Athletics. ​

Daniel Rowden talks Olympics, injuries, following in the footsteps of great British runners, and more with Tokyo 2020.

It's an odd start to a biographical film when a disclaimer announces that "All characters in this film are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons [...] is purely coincidental and unintended." That, and having a full 2 minutes + on a pre-opening credits scroll of distribution and production partners. But maybe that second bit is a quirk of Indian cinema, or at least of Indian cinema streamed in the United States (in this case, on Amazon Prime).

Once things get underway, Gold is a fairly conventional sports success story, inspired by India's 1949 gold medal-winning team at London 1948. Set amidst the turbulent times of India's emerging political break from Great Britain's rule, the real world facts are, after three consecutive gold medals representing British India and an eight-year gap in the Olympic schedule due to World War II, India wins its first Olympic title as an independent nation in 1948. And that win - in London - comes at the expense of Great Britain itself, finally reappearing at the Games after a 20 years absence. By the way, India would also win the next two Olympic titles, cementing its place in dynastic legends of the Games.

Along the way, there are requisite obstacles - Nazis, the British, sociopolitical turmoil, bureaucrats, and team infighting. Tapan Das, a fictional character, overcomes a lackluster reputation to build a winning team that lifts the spirit of the new nation.

Gold has a nice look, filmed crisply and colorfully. And, it is certainly refreshing to see a movie devoted to such a lesser-known (in the U.S.) Olympic sport. One can accept most of the film's artistic and dramatic license on the specific details of the path to Olympic gold - remember that opening disclaimer noted above. But Gold really presses the patience with India's gold medal match, presenting a score of 4-3 over Great Britain - in the rain! barefoot! -  when in actuality they won in a pedestrian 4-0. 

If you can look past all the "creative liberties", it's a light and uplifting couple of hours, especially for an Olympic sports-obsessed viewer...and one that respects the sport's status in India.

p.s. Who doesn't appreciate a couple of musical Bollywood interludes?