Sprint Season 2 Review – Racing into an exciting Olympic main event

Episode Guide

ALL AMERICAN
CHANGING THE GUARD
GOING FOR GOLD: PART 1
GOING FOR GOLD: PART 2

Sprint is back and Netflix’s track-focused sport documentary is better than ever. With all the prep work completed in the first season, it’s game time and that means getting down to the business end of sprinting. The Paris Olympics are fast approaching and with four episodes to chew through, there’s a consistent build-up to the main event before everything explodes in the best way possible.

The first two episodes center on the Olympic trials. Only 3 of the top athletes from each country can progress through, and the focus here is almost exclusively on the USA and Jamaica. We see the weight of expectation come crumbling down when Christian Coleman fails to quality, while conversely, seeing Kishane Thompson suddenly appear as a massive dark horse contender in the 100m sprint makes for a much more tense affair going into Paris.

The final two episodes then focus on the big event itself. Deep in France, the show follows the athletes that have made it this far. Much like season 1 though, there’s a lot more emphasis on the US athletes rather than those from other countries, so that’s definitely something worth bearing in mind!

However, there are some really unique and enjoyable moments here that make the second season shine. There’s a goosebump-inducing moment at the end of the 100m women’s sprint, and we also get behind the scenes footage of the winner moments after the race. We see the emotion come pouring out and it’s hard not to get choked up here. Again, I’m being careful not to spoil the winners, especially for those who don’t really follow track and field.

As for the men’s side of things, the incredibly close 100m sprint is given due justice here and seeing the reaction from a lot of the competitors at the end definitely helps give this one an extra dimension. There’s a really nice clip on the field as we see the top two competitors locked in nail-biting agony, watching the screens and waiting for the result to pop through. But the fact that everybody in this race hit under 10 seconds is an incredible achievement unto itself. Following this, the drama then crescendos with the 200m final and the 4×1 relay.

There’s undoubtedly been a lot of drama at the Paris Olympics, and Netflix’s sport documentary series does a good job of capturing that in its rawest form. The editing is pretty good all round, with sharp cuts and fly on the wall footage working to flesh out more of the drama. The interviews around this are just as good and honestly, seeing Noah Lyles at a vulnerable state toward the end of the show definitely adds to his character. 

All in all, Sprint is a solid watch and a worthy follow-up to the first season.

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