The Summer Olympics are approaching, and few events in the quadrennial competition generate more excitement than sprint races. piqueIn a new six-part miniseries on Netflix, we meet some of the world’s fastest runners as they battle to set records and position themselves for gold in Paris this summer.
PIQUESTREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: We start with a high-intensity montage of featured runners talking about what it means to be the fastest humans in the world, interspersed with clips from previous competitions and quotes from former wrestlers like Usain Bolt. It’s energetic!
The essence: There’s a lot of content in a small space here: interviews and race footage from a wide list of the world’s best sprinters, including Noah Lyles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Shericka Jackson, Zharnel Hughes, Gabby Thomas, Marcell Jacobs, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and more, along with contextual interviews from retired stars like Michael Johnson, Ato Boldon, and Usain Bolt. We’re here to learn who these people are, what motivates them, and what it takes to be the fastest people on the planet.
What shows will it remind you of? It’s a bit like the Netflix show centered on the NFL. Attacking playerAnd it’s a bit like the pre-packaged segments NBC gives you in the run-up to Olympic events: it tries to quickly introduce you to these personalities and get you rooting for them (or maybe against them?).
Our opinion: The six episodes of pique They promise to introduce us to a wide variety of the sport’s best (the introductory montage makes that abundantly clear), but the bulk of the first episode focuses on the competition between American sprinter Noah Lyles and Italian Marcell Jacobs.
Lyles talks of becoming the “next Usain Bolt” and promises to be a major player at the upcoming Paris Olympics. He is brash, bold and supremely self-assured, as one must be when vying to be the world’s fastest runner, but his cocky image is softened by scenes with his mother, describing her childhood asthma problems.
The big drama surrounding Lyles is his move to the 100m; traditionally the most competitive event in sprinting, the 100m is, as Lyles notes, “where the dogs go,” and a major shift from the 200m he had previously focused on.
As the athletes gather for a Diamond League event in Paris, Lyles’ biggest competition is Jacobs, the reigning Olympic gold medallist. We move on to a profile of the family life of Jacobs, who has gone from relative unknown to hugely famous in the three years since his Tokyo victory, but also faces sceptics who suggest his gold medal performance was a fluke.
“When he is healthy and at his best, he is the best in the world,” says commentator Boldon about Marcell Jacobs. “That is why he is the Olympic champion, but he has not been in that form since then.” It is a real statement that sets the tone for the next competition.
Sex and skin: There are some amazing bodies here, but they are kept in tank tops.
Parting shot: Lyles and Jacobs face off in the 100m at the Paris Diamond League event, with Lyles taking first place. Is there a new favourite for gold in the men’s 100m this year?
Sleeping Star: Look, this is cheating: There are a ton of real, current stars here. But as an American viewer who watched every minute of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, I couldn’t have been happier to see Michael Johnson here. (I still want a pair of gold track shoes, even if I fell out of my cleats as the real athletes crossed the finish line.)
Pilot’s most typical phrase: “I am an athlete 24 hours a day,” says Jacobs (in Italian, with subtitles), referring to his recent injury problems. “I train all year long and every day to compete. That is why, for me, not competing is difficult.”
Our calling: STREAM IT. If you’re a casual viewer who takes a keen interest in athletics for a few weeks every four years, pique It’s a great warm-up for the Olympics.
Scott Hines, editor of the much-loved Action Cookbook Newsletter,is an architect, blogger, and Internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky.
