There are very few events in human history as relentlessly documented and recorded as the Olympic Games. From 1912 onwards, the International Olympics Council produced over 40 documentaries chronicling the pinnacle of sports and athletics, as a way to document and preserve the highlights of the thousands of competitors who compete for the gold every year. While those often straightforward, paint-by-numbers documentaries largely fell out of fashion with the rise of television — and now, there are likely more people keeping up with the games via social media than there are consistent cable watchers tuning in — films made about the games from more independent sources remain key touchstone classics to this day.

It’s no surprise why the Olympics would draw filmmakers and documentarians. As the highest platform of athleticism on the planet, the games features human beings at their absolute peaks, and many of the participants are the types of physical specimens...