The 2024 Summer Olympic Games have arrived. Whether you are a true sports fanatic, a casual sports enjoyer, or a downright hater, the Olympics have something for everyone. No matter what it is that you love—the fanfare, the fashion, the athletes, the competition, the camaraderie, the internet culture, or just the game itself—the Olympics brings everyone together. So if you want to get into that Olympic spirit before the games begin there are several movies we suggest to do just that!
Summer Olympic Movies
Race
Where to watch: Netflix
Race tells the true story of Jesse Owens, an African-American track and field college athlete. When coach, and former Olympian, Larry Snyder tells him he is good enough to compete in the 1939 Olympics in Berlin, Jesse is hesitant due to the racial tensions in Hitler’s Germany, America, and the rest of the world. But, deciding to defy racial propaganda and become the greatest athlete in history, he agrees.
Boys in the Boat
Where to watch: MGM+
Based on a true story, The Boys in the Boat follows the University of Washington’s rowing team as they try for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. A group of Junior Varsity underdogs growing up in the height of the Great Depression, the team has a lot to prove and many obstacles to face if they want to make it to and win the Olympics.
Simone Biles: Rising
Where to watch: Netflix
This 2024 sports documentary follows gymnastic superstar Simone Biles as she prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Following her withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to mental health concerns, this Netflix Original follows the mental and physical journeys Biles must go on to make a victorious return.
Winter Olympic Movies
Where to watch: Hulu, Disney +, Paramount+
Blades of Glory is an entirely fictional comedy that follows two rival figure skaters, Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy. At the 2002 Winter Olympics the two figure skaters, after they both tie for first place, get into a fistfight while receiving their gold medal on the podium. They are then stripped of their medals and banned for life from competitive skating. Three and a half years later a loophole is discovered by Chazz’s stalker that says that he and Jimmy can still competitively compete if they skate as a pair. Chazz and Jimmy must put their differences aside to qualify for the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Cool Runnings
Where to watch: Disney +
Loosely based on a true story, Cool Runnings follows the first Jamaican Olympic national bobsled team as they work to compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics. When Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock doesn’t qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, he decides to put together a bobsled team for the Winter Games that same year. With the help of a disgraced American bobsled coach, Derice builds a team that then must learn how to bobsled by the time the winter rolls around.
Miracle
Where to watch: Disney +
Set during the Cold War, Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team, as he fights to create a team good enough to beat the seemingly indestructible Soviet team. A story of comradery and heart, this movie is the perfect way to get in the Olympics Spirit.
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