Sprint | |
---|---|
Genre | Docudrama |
Created by | |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 10 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Running time | 33-48 minutes |
Production company | Box to Box Films |
Original release | |
Network | Netflix |
Release | 2 July 2024 – present |
Sprint is a television documentary series produced in a collaboration between Netflix and World Athletics, to give a behind-the-scenes look at the athletes and races of the Diamond League, World Athletics Championships, and Olympic Games. The series debuted with six episodes on 2 July 2024 covering the 2023 Diamond League and 2023 World Athletics Championships. The series was renewed for a second season which covered athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics, released on 13 November 2024. [1]
The series was produced by Box to Box Films, the same organization that produced the popular Formula 1: Drive to Survive series since 2019. [2]
Season 1 (S1) and season 2 (S2) appearances are denoted. [3] [4]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
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1 | 1 | "Heir to the Throne" | 2 July 2024 | |
2 | 2 | "Queens" | 2 July 2024 | |
3 | 3 | "Belonging" | 2 July 2024 | |
4 | 4 | "Trials & Tribulations" | 2 July 2024 | |
Sprinters qualify for world teams at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2023 Jamaican Athletics Championships. [3] | ||||
5 | 5 | "The Gold Standard" | 2 July 2024 | |
6 | 6 | "The Double is Alive" | 2 July 2024 | |
Season 1 ends with the 2023 Worlds men's 100 m finals and both the men's and women's 200 m finals. [3] |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 1 | "All American" | 13 November 2024 | |
Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley race at the 2024 United States Olympic trials. Kerley also competes at the 2024 USATF NYC Grand Prix. [4] | ||||
8 | 2 | "Changing of the Guard" | 13 November 2024 | |
Oblique Seville beats Lyles at the Racers Grand Prix, then Kishane Thompson, Seville, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, and Shericka Jackson race at the 2024 Jamaican Athletics Championships. At the end of the episode, Julien Alfred and Gabrielle Thomas race at the 2024 London Athletics Meet. [4] | ||||
9 | 3 | "Going for Gold: Part 1" | 13 November 2024 | |
10 | 4 | "Going for Gold: Part 2" | 13 November 2024 | |
Cathal Dennehy of Athletics Weekly wrote that the series would be good for the sport of athletics, but not to expect the same level of interest that Formula 1: Drive to Survive generated. [2]
Noah Lyles' portrayal in the documentary received criticism, with some accusing the documentary makers of focusing too much on Lyles at the expense of other athletes. Some also argued that Lyles appeared arrogant and "not likable at all". [6]
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the 100-meter (109.36 yd) dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women. The inaugural World Championships were in 1983.
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint. Similarly to other sprint distances, the 200 m begins from the starting blocks. When the sprinters adopt the 'set' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles. This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster.
Kevin Lyles is an American former sprinter. He won gold medals with the United States in the 4 × 400-meter relay at the 1993 Summer Universiade and at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, where he was an alternate runner in the heats stage.
Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.
Andre De Grasse is a Canadian sprinter. A seven-time Olympic medallist, De Grasse is the 2020 Olympic champion in the 200 m, and also won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4×100 relay in 2020. He also has three Olympic bronze medals, placing third in the 100 m at both the 2016 and 2020 Games, and also in the 4×100 m relay in 2016. De Grasse won his second Olympic gold medal as a part of the 4×100 m relay team at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The win tied him with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada's most decorated Olympians of all time.
Racers Track Club is a sprint training group located at 3 Port of Spain Drive, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. It was established by Glen Mills with the stated aim of producing a greater number of world champions than any other track club. The club is known for training some of the world's best sprinters, world champions currently training with the group include Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He holds personal bests of 9.76 seconds for the 100 m, which made him the 6th fastest all-time in the history of 100 metres event, and 19.85 for the 200 m. Coleman is the world record holder for the indoor 60 meters with 6.34 seconds. He was the Diamond League champion in 2018 and 2023 and the world number one ranked runner in the men's 100 m for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Noah Lyles is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters events. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time. He is an Olympic champion and six-time World champion.
Filippo Tortu is an Italian sprinter with a personal best in the 100 metres of 9.99, the first Italian in history to break the 10 seconds barrier, and the second fastest Italian in history following Marcell Jacobs. He won the gold medal in 100 metres at the 2017 European U20 Championships and the silver medal at the 2016 World U20 Championships. He ran the anchor leg in the 4×100m relay of the Italian team that won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2024 European Championships, and the silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 and 2024 European 100 metres champion, and a member of the gold medal-winning 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2020 Olympics. He currently holds the 100 metres European record, the 60 metres European record, and is the first person to ever qualify for and win the men's 100 metres Olympic final for Italy.
The men's 100 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. 84 athletes were expected to compete; 27 nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 56 qualifying through standard time or ranking. 78 athletes from 59 nations competed. Marcell Jacobs won the gold medal, establishing twice, semifinal and final, the new European record, as well as collecting Italy's first medal in the men's 100 metres. The United States extended its podium streak in the event to six Games with Fred Kerley's silver - after he placed only third at the U.S. trials. Canadian Andre De Grasse won his second consecutive bronze medal in the 100 metres, while running a personal best. With Usain Bolt retired, Jamaica's three Games gold medal streak ended.
The men's 200 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 3 and 4 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. 48 athletes from 33 nations competed, including five universality places. Canada earned its first gold medal in the event since 1928 and third overall, as Andre De Grasse added gold to his 2016 silver to become the 12th man to earn multiple medals in the 200 metres. Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles, both of the United States, took silver and bronze as Americans reached the podium for the first time since 2008. Jamaica's three-Games gold medal streak in the event ended, with Usain Bolt having retired.
Kenneth Bednarek is an American track and field sprinter from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He specializes in the 200-meter distance, having won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2022 World Championships, and at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 5 October 2019.
Erriyon Knighton is an American sprinter specializing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. At the age of 18, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championships history. He is the 2023 U.S. Champion in the 200 meters and the 2023 World Championships silver medalist.
Junelle Bromfield is a Jamaican track and field athlete. She competed in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, competing in the preliminary heat, and won a bronze medal.
The men's 100 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 19 and 20 August 2023.
The men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 25 and 26 August 2023. It was the 19th edition of this relay at the World Athletics Championships since 1983.
Kishane Thompson is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. He won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres event.
The men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in two rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, on 8 and 9 August 2024. This was the 26th time that the men's 4 x 100 metres relay was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 16 teams were able to qualify for the event through the 2024 World Athletics Relays or the World Athletics top list.