"Sprint" by Netflix premiers today - share your impressions here.

I’ve watched all but the last episode. It’s been pretty good to me. There’re some misses, they didn’t film Tebogo so it’s odd they just have to pretend he doesn’t exist. The Hughes, Shericka and Marcell off-the-track segments were really good because it’s sides of them we haven’t seen. The Sha’Carri/Mitchell access was obviously great. I’m hoping for the next season they can build up the storylines of the event a little bit more. I don’t think it hurts the product if they’re not tracking a guy but we see reactions by the guys they are to what they do.

Watched the whole thing and it was pretty good.
It was motivating and compelling.

It could have been better. Easily

These are 10-22 second races. Show the entire race at full speed from a wide angle.
All of these close up, weird angle with flashes of slow mo made it look like a movie production. And that isn’t needed when the real thing is better.

Show the full results of the races. How hard is that? It tells the story.

Get more into the training.
What made Rocky a great movie (and set of movies) was the training he did to prepare for the fight.
They showed some practice scenes but could have done that more and explained how they prepared.

After watching this, you think sprinting is more mental preparation and trash talking than the physical preparation that it takes. That’s false.

Overall a pretty surface level product but as a track fan you take what you can get. It was absurd not to show the 4x100 as it featured all the same cast and USA double gold to top it off.

Some bits on the technical sides of sprinting would be nice. A breakdown of the different phases of the 100 would help normies feel smarter about the subject matter when they're talking track at work next week. Noah has a "I push 300 pounds of force at the start" quip he uses on talk show interviews that would play well. There's a lot more to the 100 than just "haha funny man run fast"

Being a homer is totally understandable and you are foregiven ;o)

And it is true that Hughes, Omanyala and Jacobs are very likeable.

I like Noah Lyles. There is a very fine line between too much bravado and the right amount. Muhammad Ali (boxer) was outrageous if you think about it. But he is a hero and there doesn't seem to be anyone who doesn't love him. Lyles is a talker, sure, but its his way of dealing with the stress, besides crying on the podium.

Maurice Green with his tongue hanging out and all that was way too much for me.

Lyles is likeable and one thing that I really like about him, is his desire for athletics to be more popular like the NBA etc. He called out the NBA for claiming to be world champs for the NBA champs. Love it. So true.

I have always cheered for Sha'Carri because she has come from a difficult situation. She didn't deal with the press well for a period. She is young, was not groomed for the limelight and tackled as best she could.

But, Sprint from Box to Box Films did a terrific job of making none of the athletes out to be antagonists, but rather circumstance, doubling, world records, cart crashes, etc -- all good substitute antagonist situations.

Great series. Good for the sport, to be sure.

I'm just through Ep 5.

Over all it's a solid 6 or 7/10. Definitely worth a watch.

They didn't sell the story lines enough for me.

Lyles moving down to the 100m was not a sure thing at the time. Ato Boldon said it but we didn't really see it or get a sense of the achievement and skill a 100m/200m double entails.

Sha'Carri's back story and failed test for weed was only obliquely referenced by Michael Johnson and Ato. They could and should have made more of this

The athlete coach interaction and seeing the warm up and call room stuff is where the series comes alive. Lance Brauman, Dennis Mitchell and Paul Francis were all good in their own ways. I would have likes some more technical talk with them.

I couldn't believe the Wallace Spearmon Fred Kerly interaction after he bombs out at the SF in Budapest. "Lay off the Candy and no more Red Bull" what a Joke.

I like Fred a lot I think he's the most compelling of the lot but if that is the level of Support USATF or Asics gives athletes they would want to look at themselves.

Where was his coach?

Is this was Spearmon does for a living?

I'd have liked if they get a sport psychologist in as a talking head too.

What Paul and Stephen Francis achieve at MVP with the set up the have is astounding

the parts with the coaches were my absolute fav parts (each with a very different demeanor but very successful (and motivational to their own athlete(s)).

technical quibble but I would appreciate it if Netflix put the event title next to the ("_x World Medalist, _x Olympic Medalist") for everyone so, for instance, when Rai Benjamin and Paul Chelimo make very brief cameos the audience knows they are not 100m/200m sprinters. It gives a little peak into the fact that there are longer events and that, for the most part, the USA athletes seem to have a lot of respect for each other across disciplines.

Noah really does come across as so damn goofy in this too. I appreciate the fact that he wants to grow the sport and I think some (emphasis on SOME) of his outfits are quite cool but no one wants to say the quiet part out loud which is this sport is never going mainstream if the athlete who seems to be most committed to expanding its popularity (ie the fastest man in the world (a big positive)) is just so eye-rollingly cringy (a major negative). We talk about telling the "stories behind the sport" and talking about "the athletes as people" but one of the main things I took away from the series was that if I never heard Lyles speak again on camera that would be 100% fine (though I would love to hear more from basically everyone else profiled). And I can say that with a lot of respect for Noah's talent on the track. I also think he is a pretty good intelligent person but he is just trying way way way too hard to put on this forced persona...

Not sure if this is a hot take but I honestly think he's more of a nerdy guy (ie a more extroverted Yared Nuguse?) than he even lets on (see: the Yugioh cards and the red white and blue speedsuits in a briefcase with Snoop?!?!) and should just lean into that instead of trying to beef with an unsuspecting Hughes at the pre-race press conference or by irritating Big Man Fred (who clearly has just taken to ignoring Noah like some kind of buzzing gnat).

I'm through three episodes and I've enjoyed it. Though, I agree with a lot other people - it's largely glossy fluff, not a true deep dive documentary, but that's okay. Enjoyed learning a bit about Hughes and Jacobs. I don't mind some focus on Lyles - he is, obviously, a top sprinter. But, every thread running through Lyles is a bit much. Second episode with the women was good; getting a closer look at the Jamaicans. Allyson Felix and Michael Johnson are good talking heads.

Too bad it's not called "Citius, Altius, Fortius" and it broadly covers track and field. I'm fine with the sprint focus, BUT I feel like Netflix will tell itself "we're good with track" and we won't see a future series for other disciplines.

I watched episodes 4 and 5 back to back last night. I agree with your takes. Some additional thoughts:

• I’m so grateful Dennis Mitchell is there for Sha’Carri. The way he instills confidence in her is awesome to watch. Seeing his reaction to her win and their post-race embrace brought tears to my eyes.
• The show does a nice job of contrasting Lyles, the showman, with Kerley, the silent assassin.
• I understand why some (maybe many) people find Lyles to be off-putting, but I appreciate his intentionality in wanting to grow the sport. All athletes need to share in that responsibility.
• The show does a fantastic job of hyping up the races. Even as someone who knows the results of last year’s world championships, I was excited to see those races again. It makes me wish the show was being done in the current season, not as a retrospective. I’ve said before that the sport would benefit from short WWE-style hype videos to promote upcoming events; this show demonstrates what’s possible in long-form.

I don't know why, but I liked the talking heads explicitly explaining how big T&F is in the UK and how much it matters.

Also not a massive fan of Lyles act but I will say I felt like when Fred had the bad race in the semis Noah seemed to care. That was one of eth only times I could see the real guy and not a show. He wasn't gloating he seemed to feel badly about it.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Truely sickening to watch I just shut down after the first episode.

I finally saw the first two episodes last night.

It seemed to me that Sha'Carri was holding herself back during her one-on-one interviews for the documentary, as she seemed to do little awkward smiles/pauses at the end of her bits. Not sure if it was insecurity or what, but it seemed that she was measuring what she wanted to share.

I really liked learning about Shericka's and Jacob's "pressures"/"expectations" from their national fanbase due to their rising status as sprint superstars.

The SPRINT producers/creators need to pull in some hurdlers, either for a new season OR a spin-off called "HURDLE". That event is pretty cutthroat as well, and there some great personalities (Grant Holloway for example), and they are willing to do more head-to-head competitions.

I agree about featuring the hurdles. The Warholm-dos Santos-Benjamin rivalry is low-hanging fruit. That should be the focus of at least one episode.

I finished the series last night. Thoughts on the final episode:

• That golf cart crash was wild. How does that happen??
• I was struck by Lyles breaking down crying at the medal ceremony after he won the 100. Unlike other athletes who just focus on themselves, he puts a lot of extra weight on his shoulders by trying to elevate the sport. That’s a heavy burden to carry, and his raw emotion during the ceremony showed it.
  
• Throughout the series, it’s been interesting to hear the violent metaphors sprinters use when talking about their mindset going into races. They describe racing as war, and they talk about killing each other in various ways. Even mild-mannered Zharnel Hughes described himself as “lethal”, and in this episode, I was shocked to hear sweet Gabby Thomas say, “I’m gonna rip your head off.” Geez, it’s just racing, people! I expect such language from football players, not sprinters. Whatever helps them perform well, I guess.
• On the other hand, I appreciated the way they congratulated each other after the races were over. Lyles and Hughes seem to be buds, and it was cool to see Sha’Carri celebrating with the Jamaicans. In a previous episode, there was even a nice hug shared by Mitchell and Francis.
  
• One of my favorite parts of the series was seeing athletes watching each other’s races with great interest. I love that when they’re not competing, the stars are fans of the sport just like we are.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable series that got me even more hyped for the Olympics. Looking forward to Season 2.

I saw on the front page that Canadian Running Magazine published an article listing out reasons it fell short but that seems disingenuous at best. Is it perfect? No. Is it for diehard track fans? Probably not. But there aren't many diehard track fans to begin with. I'm 2 episodes in & it's very similar to the Tour de France documentary. The rivalries are blown up a bit to add some drama but the personalities in it are engaging & you get to see more behind the scenes type of content that you don't usually get to see. This thing is trending on Netflix rn, meaning casuals are watching it & getting excited to cheer on athletes during the Olympics. That's why this thing was made & that's why it's out now. We have something in the mainstream. That should be cause for celebration. We can worry about critiquing stuff like this to no end when we have something to compare it to.

Seeing the interviews that SCR does throughout the whole series, without makeup, without fake nails, and without fake hair was very interesting to me. It lets you see another side of her that we have never really seen before.