TCM Gets Into the ‘Olympic Spirit’ With a Marathon of Classic Documentaries About Past Games

Jeff Pfeiffer July 25, 2024

black-and-white image from the 1965 documentary — Michael Ochs Archives/Toho/Getty Images

Time-lapse image of a gymnast captured in the classic 1965 sports documentary *Tokyo Olympiad*

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris begin on Friday, July 26, and Turner Classic Movies is offering a look back at previous Olympics (mostly focused on Summer Games) that morning and afternoon via its “Olympic Spirit” marathon of several notable documentary films.

black and white image of Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She appears to have just landed a move and she has her arms up in the air following the completion.

Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci as seen in the 1977 documentary Games of the XXI Olympiad

TCM Morning & Afternoon Documentary Marathon: The Olympic Spirit — Friday, July 26, 2024 (All Times Eastern) — Films Are Available at Watch TCM and on the Watch TCM App Until Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024

6am: The Olympic Games in Paris 1924 (1925) — This roughly three-hour silent film covers notable events and athletes at the Games that were held in 1924, 100 years ago, also in Paris. Among the athletes seen in the doc are English and Scottish runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who would later be famously dramatized in the Best Picture Oscar-winning 1981 drama Chariots of Fire.

9:15am: Games of the XXI Olympiad (1977) — This doc runs about two hours and chronicles the 1976 Games that were held in Montreal, spotlighting legendary athletes like three-time gold medal-winning Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci and gold medal-winning (and Wheaties box-appearing) American decathlete Caitlyn Jenner (known at that time and competing in men’s events, prior to her gender transition, as Bruce Jenner).

11:30am: 16 Days of Glory (1985) — The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are the subject of this award-winning film from director Bud Greenspan, which runs over four-and-a-half hours and features footage of athletes such as Americans Carl Lewis (four-time gold medalist in track and field events), Mary Lou Retton (one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in gymnastics events) and Greg Louganis (two-time gold medalist in diving events).

4:30pm: Tokyo Olympiad (1965) — This beautiful Japanese film from director Kon Ichikawa is one of the most acclaimed Olympics documentaries, and is generally regarded as one of the overall greatest sports docs ever made, as well. Over its nearly three hours, the production not only captures events held at the 1964 Games in the title city but also weaves a rich, colorful and lovely dramatic tapestry while doing so, in a wholly original manner.

black and white image from the 1965 documentary "Tokyo Olympiad," capturing a line of eight sprinters (seen from top to bottom on a racetrack) crossing the finishing line with various arm movements and body positions, an artistic image making the runners, seen in silhouette, almost look like birds in the sky.

Michael Ochs Archives/Toho/Getty Images

Sprinters as captured in a scene from Tokyo Olympiad

7:30pm: Olympic Spirit (1980) — As today’s lineup of Olympics documentaries concludes, we switch seasons with this half-hour 1980 short that briefly chronicles the 1980 Winter Games that were held in Lake Placid, New York, notable for the United States’ “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviet Union during the ice hockey tournament’s medal round.