British athletes ready to create their own Netflix-style show while BBC talks go on

British athletes are exploring the possibility of making their own documentary on the events leading up to Paris 2024 if they negotiate with the founder of the BBC and other broadcasters. Credit: Jewel SAMAD /AFP

Top British athletes are poised to film their own 'rough' version of a behind the scenes documentary ahead of next year's Paris Olympics unless the series is commissioned by the BBC or one of the mainstream broadcasters.

< p>Despite an audience of three million watching World Championship gold medal moments last week by Katharina Johnson-Thompson and Josh Kerr, the BBC has yet to take advantage of the offer of full broadcast access to the human stories behind these Olympic events. dreams.

British Athletics is also in talks with Warner Bros. Discovery about the idea, but some athletes are willing to take matters into their own hands, trying to get their stories out to the general public.

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«I suggested it to the BBC,» Jack Buckner, chief executive of British Athletics, said of the idea Netflix-style documentary.

“Today I sent them all this photo [of 1500m world champions Josh Kerr and Jake Whiteman running together when they were schoolboys from Edinburgh]. I will continue to work on myself, and interestingly, Jake said to me: “Can we do it differently?” If it had to be a little more, sort of, squalid and dirty, as opposed to high production value, he'd love to do it. Athletes want to do it. I think we probably have another month or so to present it at this level [BBC or Warner].

» /> Kerr (left) and Wightman during their childhood at the Edinburgh Athletics Club

“The picture I'm trying to paint here is that of a determined sport about to make its way back. If we need to do it cheaply and athletes want to do it, we will find a way. Things are going wrong. Athletes are ready for it. There are incredible stories.”

Among them is Bianca Williams, bronze medalist in the women's 4x100m, who is looking forward to sharing her medal with her young son, Zuri.

«When he's older, he'll look back and say, 'My mom is a superhero.' When people found out that I was pregnant and when my child was born, they said that I would never go back to where I am. You can have children and still be able to do the work you used to do. This is for him.”

After a loss of £1.8 million was published in the latest published reports, as well as a need for £150,000 from UK Sport to secure participation in the London Diamond League last month, British Athletics has cut costs by almost by £2 million.

The Diamond League has taken the lead in front of a sold-out crowd of over 50,000 and after going through these championships without a main sponsor, there is confidence in a new partner announcement soon.

“There is definitely a lot more interest from the Diamond League and all of that,” Buckner said, stressing that there will be no need for further job cuts ahead of the Paris Olympics following the recent layoffs and the decision to close the main headquarters in Birmingham.

«I've taken on over £1.8m of expenses,» said Buckner, who took over the role last year. “Unfortunately, a third of the organization left. We rolled up our sleeves, we did the hard work. Not everything is so rosy — there are still things to worry about — but it seems that the situation is much more stable. We are as frugal as we want to be.”