Every two years, athletes from around the globe gather to compete at the Olympic Games. And every two years, stories emerge that capture the world’s attention, from the tragic to the triumphant.
With the Summer Olympics set to begin in Paris on Friday, key storylines are already emerging.
There is Simone Biles’ much-anticipated return to Olympic gymnastics three years after she withdrew from the Tokyo Games. There is the question of how the wars in Ukraine and Gaza might disrupt the facade of international unity. There’s even concern about pollution in the River Seine, which may be too full of sewage to provide a safe venue for long-distance swimming events — though the Paris mayor took a dip recently to prove it was safe.
Whatever the Big Narrative of 2024 turns out to be, it will likely get the documentary treatment at some point in the future. The human drama of the Olympics — from the athletes who participate in them to the controversies that sometimes overshadow the competition — have been fodder for nonfiction filmmakers since at least 1912.
To help you get ready for the games, The Times TV team has compiled a list of Olympic-themed documentaries available to stream, including moving tales of human triumph and infuriating accounts of systemic corruption, and cautionary tales of nationalistic myth-making.
