I have to admit I looked forward to watching Sprint for so long, especially since it was released around the same time as the 2024 Olympics. There was so much attention on Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, it’s a well-worn cliché to acknowledge just how hard these athletes train for their sport, which makes this documentary a huge disappointment, and at best a primer for the Olympics.

The documentary shows the competitiveness between the fastest sprinters all over the world, while also focusing on the lives of mainly Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles. These athletes have performed at their best because if they don’t, they deal with the evil censure from people all over the world. In track, more specifically sprints, one mistake can change the whole race, so these sprinters need to run perfectly and balance this with the pressure of running with such high stakes.

Gold medalist, Noah Lyles, best known for his 100m and 200m dashes, trains for his upcoming races and displays his energetic and cocky attitude towards his opponents. On the women’s side, the focus is Sha’Carri Richardson, another Gold Medalist, who also has a very cocky attitude, which seems to define her character. Both sprinters prove the entire time that they are the best and that they can beat anyone who stands in their way.

I was really happy to see the competitiveness around the runners from different countries like the United States and Jamaica, or individual runners such as Marcel Jacobs and Noah Lyles. It was very interesting to see how each runner handles the stress of how important a certain race is. Also, I love that now there is a professional track league that this documentary can cover. I also really enjoy that people can create a personal connection with a runner, especially since this documentary was released so close to the Olympics. A negative about the documentary was that it was too focused on the biggest names in track like Lyles and Richardson, so it barely focused on people like Marcel Jacobs, Gabby Thomas, and Fred Kerly. I thought that the documentary was extremely cliché because every professional athlete works very hard for their sport and there is always going to be competition between people when you are very well known. There were several parts where there were interviews with the families of the runners, in which they say that the runner was so energetic as a child and how much they care about him or her. This part is included in every single sport documentary, and of course a caring parent would care a lot about their child, so I wish that there were extra things that can be said that sets this documentary apart from others.

What I learned most from this documentary is how to handle the stress of an important race and how to stay in the zone before running. Others can learn the same things, and they can also learn how to be more competitive and make the sport more interesting.

I would recommend this movie to track athletes, coaches, and fans that would enjoy getting a refresher before the Olympics. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who would say that they do not enjoy “running in circles for fun”. This documentary was well made with good athletes , but I think it was only to focus on the lives of Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, and because of the release time, it was only a primer for people for the Olympics.

Sprint is a 3 out of 5. It still brought popularity to track and showed really interesting races and the tensions between people.