SHORTLY AFTER WINNING her first-round heat of the 200 at the Paris Olympics, Gabby Thomas learns that 2-time reigning world champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica has scratched from the event. “I don’t know what that means for her,” a puzzled Thomas says to the camera crew following her for the second season of the docuseries Sprint. “I can’t worry about her. I have a new Caribbean girl to worry about.”
This “new Caribbean girl” — Julien Alfred of St. Lucia — may have presented a challenge to Thomas, but she ended up being a blessing to the team at Box to Box, the production company behind Sprint.
With the show’s second batch of episodes having premiered on Netflix on November 13, Jackson and countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are back after playing a central role in the first season, but both fade out of the picture with injuries when the action turns to Paris.
Instead, Alfred came roaring to the forefront, winning the 100-meter title convincingly over Sha’Carri Richardson, then taking silver behind Thomas in the 200. Similarly, the emergence of Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson — who won the Jamaican Trials dash in a sizzling 9.77 — provided producers a bonus contender on the men’s side.
“We were always tracking who was coming up. We’d known about Kishane for a while, even though he hadn’t been on the main scene, because we’d been in Jamaica for Season 1,” says co-executive producer Suemay Oram. “With Julien, the same. She’d been doing super well indoors and when we heard she was going to be in the London Diamond League we made sure we could spend time with her and interview her there.”
The first season, which premiered in July, was a hit, landing in the streaming service’s top 10 most watched shows globally as viewers geared up for the Paris Games. Fans and newcomers to the sport were drawn to the exploits of Richardson, Jackson, Noah Lyles, Marcell Jacobs and Fred Kerley, who all feature to varying degrees in Season 2, which consists of 4 episodes. Sprinting legends Michael Johnson, Allyson Felix and Ato Boldon all return to provide insight and analysis. Joining the action are 200 gold medalist Letsile Tebogo, Kenny Bednarek, Oblique Seville and, of course, Alfred.
Alfred features in one of the most poignant moments when Sprint cameras catch her in an emotional moment following her victory in the 100. After winning her country’s first Olympic medal in any sport, she breaks down in tears while warming down in a quiet tunnel in the bowels of the Stade de France.
“I think that was one of the best moments that I’ve personally been a part of capturing,” says executive producer Warren Smith. “She’d just come off the track. There are lots of areas of the Olympic Stadium where you can and cannot go. But there was this private stretch of 100m with privileged access and we were the only people who were there. And it was just her warming down, and that moment of [realizing] ‘I am the world’s best.’”
The trust that producers had built with the athletes in Season 1 contributed to the access they were granted in Paris from World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee, a group notoriously protective of its media rights. “The IOC have been amazing partners, to be honest,” Smith says. “We were all a bit apprehensive since they’ve never allowed cameras in before in this manner in track & field. As you can see with the final piece, we were given access to really privileged areas.”
Alfred’s emergence as a superstar also worked to the producers’ advantage when they were unable to convince Richardson to participate in Season 2. Though she was a major part of the first season, and is seen in action in these new episodes, she didn’t grant the Sprint crew an interview this time around. “I think Sha’Carri wanted to focus on the Olympics. It was such a big year for her. There wasn’t the time to sit for an interview,” Smith says.
“She does feature in the show. We feel like through the lens of her coach, Dennis Mitchell, we were able to tell her story. She’s such an amazing character and we’d love for her to sit for an interview for any future series for sure.”
One athlete who didn’t shut down access when his situation became precarious was Lyles, who came down with Covid in the middle of the Olympics. The polarizing 100m gold medalist once again exudes the “main character energy” he talked about in earlier episodes. “Every time I start a new season, it’s like Beyoncé getting ready to go on tour,” the world champion says in his typically flamboyant style.
Kerley, the ’22 world champ and bronze medalist in Paris, is among those not amused by Lyles’ exuberance. “I don’t think I came here for a fashion show,” he sneers to the cameras as Lyles prepares for his walk-in at the USATF NYC Grand Prix in June. “That’s Noah’s style. It’s weird, but that’s his personality. Cocky, arrogant and all that stuff.”
Those traits are exactly what why the Sprint team has become enamored with Lyles. “I think Noah is brilliant. Everyone I meet who isn’t part of track & field tells me that they love him,” Oram says. “He’s a bit arrogant, but he proves himself. He delivers. [And] you need these strong characters, you need these people that divide opinion, to bring people to the shows.”
And he didn’t go quiet when he got sick shortly after winning the 100, putting his quest for the 200 title in jeopardy.
“It was unbelievable to be on the inside of that story,” Smith says. “And that’s a testament to him.… He opens the doors at his highest moments but also at his lowest moments. He let us in when a lot of other people would probably be shutting down access.”
There’s no word yet on whether there will be a third season. “Netflix never commissions until they see how seasons do,” says Smith, who remains optimistic. “There’s a World Championships next year and we’d love to be there.” ◻︎