World and Olympic champion Julien Alfred features in the second season of the Netflix track and field series SPRINT, which was released via the streaming platform on Wednesday.
The four-episode television documentary series, produced in collaboration with World Athletics, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the athletes and races of the Diamond League, World Athletics Championships, and Olympic Games.
The series documents how athletes prepare for the biggest stage in world sport. In the most emotional scene, the 23-year-old Alfred breaks down in tears during her cooldown, after defeating Sha’Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson of the USA in the women’s 100m final in August.
“All I’m thinking about right now is that I have finally made it,” she says. “All my hard work and my sacrifices paid off. It’s almost like a relief just seeing how far I’ve come. A little girl from Saint Lucia is finally here. I am the Olympic champion.”
The show also reveals the interactions between athletes and coaches. Before Julien made history for Saint Lucia, coach Edrick Floreal told the star sprinter: “I’m proud of you. Just have fun. Slow your heart rate down, okay? Slow that heart rate down. Keep breathing. Don’t let the moment get the best of you. You were made for this.”
Alfred’s portrayal in SPRINT has been hailed by several commentators. But the focus is once again largely on American athletes such as men’s 100m champion Noah Lyles, Richardson, and women’s 200m champion Gabby Thomas. The producers were criticised for too heavy an emphasis on the USA in Part 1, which had more than double the production time of Part 2.
Paris 2024 men’s 200m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana got short shrift in the four episodes of Part 2. The 21-year-old, who earned his country’s first Olympic gold medal ever, was only introduced in the final episode of the series. He kept his feedback short and to the point, posting on X: “This is an American show.”
Lyles and Thomas, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, Fred Kerley (USA), and Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) return for Part 2, joined by a new string of athletes, including Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville, and Americans Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, and Kenny Bednarek.
SPRINT debuted with six episodes in July 2024, covering the 2023 Diamond League and 2023 World Athletics Championships. In its first week of being released, SPRINT ranked sixth on the list of the most-watched shows on Netflix worldwide and was in the top 10 in 50 countries.
Photo credit: World Athletics
