Christopher Belcher of the United States, Zhenye Xie of China, Akani Simbine of South Africa, Ojie Edoburun of Great Britain and Kemar Hyman of Cayman Islands compete in the Men’s 100 metres heats during day one of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha. Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images via AFP
Track and field athletics to get its own Netflix series
Sprinters will be the focus of a Netflix series covering the lives of track and field athletes working towards the Olympics.
Christopher Belcher of the United States, Zhenye Xie of China, Akani Simbine of South Africa, Ojie Edoburun of Great Britain and Kemar Hyman of Cayman Islands compete in the Men’s 100 metres heats during day one of 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha. Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images via AFP
IAAF head honcho Sebastian Coe believes that the new Netflix series focused on sprinters will showcase track and field athletics to new fans.
The sporting discipline will join Formula 1, Six Nations rugby, golf and tennis (Netflix have cancelled Break Point) in having a series documenting top athletes’ lives.
“It was really interesting when I spoke to the Netflix guys,” Coe said at a press conference in Nassau ahead of the World Athletics Relays.
“The thing that really surprised them (is) when you go to a world championships and on the first day you’re celebrating gold medals from Dominica and Ecuador, you know that you are in a truly global sport.”
The IAAF World Championships in Budapest saw athletes from 46 countries win medals, while athletes from 75 countries secured top-eight places.
“There’s no sport on the planet that can claim that,” Coe said.
“[It is] statistically tougher to win than in any other sport. And that’s why everything we do is to promote the cause and give them great exposure”.
American sprinters to catch the eye in new Netflix series
American Noah Lyles claimed treble world gold at Budapest and is one of the stars of the Netflix production.
“I’m pretty excited,” Lyles said. “I’d say more than showing a personality. I love telling a story. Looking at 2023, it’s probably my best-written story so far.”
“And then seeing how competitive it was throughout the whole process, nobody really showing that they were going to back down just because a 200m guy said they were going to come down to 100m I think makes it even more entertaining.”
Years of work for a few seconds of glory
Italy’s Olympic champion, Marcell Jacobs, said the series offered up an invaluable insight into what goes into a sprinter’s bid to claim Olympic gold.
“People can understand 100% that it’s just not one race,” he said. “We have our lives off the track.
“I think it’s really important that people see how much hard work we do every day for 365 days in one year.
“It’s a great opportunity for us in track and field.”
Looking into the lives of sprinters
Coe believes that this series will give fans a greater understanding of the lives of sprinters who are often head-hunted by other sports.
“Our athletes are unique,” he said.
“They have transferable skills, which means that there are challenges keeping them in the sport, there are other sports they can go off and do.
“I’m acutely conscious that when I’m at a trackside here… there are as many recruiters from basketball and NFL (American Football) looking at the talent on display. It’s more transferable than any other sport.”
The first season of the series will air just before the Paris Olympics.
