Top Olympic-Themed Movies

The 2024 Summer Olympics is underway in Paris. Maybe it’s time to break out some movies centered around the leap year event. 

Here are a few movies to consider watching as we look forward to watching this amateur event.

Miracle

The 2004 movie retells the true events of the 1980 men’s hockey team coached by Herb Brooks. Brooks who died just mere weeks before the movie’s theatrical release led a group of college kids from Minnesota and Massachusetts to upset the heavily favored Soviet Union team.

The movie is anchored by Kurt Russell who delivered a prolific betrayal of Herb Brooks.

Race

This biopic tells the story of Jesse Owens who won a record 4 gold medals during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Even Hitler refused to congratulate him all because of his white supremacist ego.

Chariots of Fire

This 1981 classic tells the story of runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell as they competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics in (you guessed it) Paris. The movie won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Abrahams, a Jewish runner had to overcome come anti-Semitism to compete in the event. Meanwhile Liddell ran as an expression of faith.

Foxcatcher

The film follows the true story of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz and his brother Dave. It recalls their participation in Olympic wrestling and how power, control, and sport intersected.

The movie shows us how a millionaire named John du Pont and his part in attempting to control how athletes were to train for the event.

16 Days of Glory

Bud Greenspan captured the grandeur and spirit of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles.

Featuring interviews with Carl Lewis and Mary Lou Retton, this brilliant documentary’s storytelling propelled Greenspan to a productive filmmaking career while offering a unique human look at the much-anticipated event.

Jim Thorpe- All-American

Burt Lancaster starred in this biopic about an Olympian who overcame racial prejudice all because of being a Native American to win gold during the 1912 Olympics.

Thorpe was one of the most prolific athletes during the 20th Century.

Tokyo Olmpiad

The first time the Olympics took place in Asia was in 1964. Japanese filmmaker Kon Ichikawa captured the atmosphere and pageantry of the Games in a running time of three hours.

It showed how Japan was able to embrace this event as its own.

It Happened in Athens

Let’s go back in time to 1896 when the Olympics was revived in Athens. Spiridon Loues, a shepherd, arrives on qualification day to take part in the marathon. He takes part in the event for Team USA while also impressing an actress Eleni Costa.

The Boys in the Boat

Not only did Jesse Owens win gold for Team USA in Berlin, a group of eight college kids took part in the crew competition from the University of Washington.

They take part in a close race against Germany and Italy for gold.

These are some of the best movies that capture the Olympic journey and how many of these athletes overcame personal obstacles to achieve gold, silver, or bronze.