Fred Kerley isn’t just fast on the track. He is equally fast and sharp with his words. And he had some of those words to share with the world. Recently, Kerley was on the Ready Set Go podcast with legends Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green. The conversation was a chute-the-chute of revelations. One of the revelations Kerley made was about the much-loved Netflix documentary Sprint.

Sprint came out with its first season in July of 2024. The docu-series follows the competition and life of track and field athletes. Some of the big names in season one include Noah Lyles, Usain Bolt, and Sha’Carri Richardson, amongst others. So why talk about a series that came out months ago? Well, Netflix is set to release Part Two of Sprint on November 13th. While the show received a lot of love from around the world, Kerley has spilled the rendezvous behind the Netflix curtain.

During the podcast, Fred Kerely went on to say, “It really ain’t showing us how they really film us. This shit is Hollywood.” There you go, folks, that is, unfortunately, the grim reality behind the successful show. Nevertheless, the show has managed to get a lot of hype and viewers to track and field. So, is all this hype really beneficial for the sport or the athletes themselves? Let’s look at the glitz and grit.

The audience reception for Sprint was a mixed bag. Many expected the show to be the push that caused a seismic shift in track and field’s global status. The expectation, of course, stemmed from previous documentaries like that of Max Verstappen. But unfortunately, the reality was quite different. The viewers instead got a screenshot and that too a polished one that looked into the lives of some of the fastest athletes.

As Kerely himself puts it, “This piece is put together in a way that’s not really meant to be. So this shit is Hollywood. There’s nothing else to it. It’s cool for the sport, but it’s really not showing us because I feel way more stuff than what really is.” The argument that the documentary should give a real view of the athletes rather than a rosy picture designed to appease fans is one that stands. Why else make a documentary?

A documentary, after all, should allow the athletes to come across as flawed, passionate, and, above all, human entities. The narrative loses coherence somewhere along the way. As Kerley puts it, “They should start off with Jacobs at the World Championship and me in 2023, when I really wasn’t even supposed to be on this. You know what I’m saying? Because the season just ended.” It is clear that Netflix has definitely put the cloak of Hollywood on the show. But guess what? Fred Kerley is not the only one who has spoken about the same.

Fred Kerley is not the only one to call out inauthenticity!

This particular instance, however, is not the first time that an athlete has spoken about Sprint not giving the full picture. The 200m Olympic Gold medalist Gabby Thomas beat Kerley to it. But unlike Kerley, Gabby walked the diplomatic route on X. On July 8th, not long after the release of season 1, Gabby found herself in the middle of a rain of love. The fandom and sports enthusiasts from around the world were sending in messages.

Gabby, during the same, took it to X and wrote, “The docuseries shows such a small part of our journeys, but so glad people are able to see a glimpse of it.” While season one might have brought have a larger audience to the sport, from the reactions of Kerley and Gabby, it is evident that the show is missing authenticity and depth. While that stands true, there is another aspect of the show that has led to its popularity.

The show has been able to create and capture moments of athletic drama. One of the main rivalries in the documentary is between Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles. Episode five of season one saw the Lyles and Kerely drama hitting new levels. In the episode, you see Lyles asking Kerley, “How many goats do you have now?”. Fred turns around and says, “It’s just one, and it’s me.” These were lines that came before the Paris Olympics. Today, the tables have turned.

In the latest trailer, the rivalry takes a whole new turn. The trailer sets the tone with Kerley calling Noah “cocky, arrogant, and all that.” And soon after, the trailer cuts to Noah’s interview with Netflix. This is being shot after Paris, and you hear Noah say, “Everybody has got a chance….to win second.” Talk about a rivalry brewing!

Despite the critiques and tensions, the drama that Sprint is able to bring is pure gold for fans and enthusiasts alike. Sure, the documentary may not capture the full stories of these athletes, but it gets everyone buzzing about track events—more often than just once every four years! With season two on the horizon and fresh rivalries taking center stage, who knows? The world will have to wait for November 13.