“The Sporting Image” is the summer 2024 edition of the Notebook Insert, a seasonal supplement on moving-image culture.Multiplex asks filmmakers, critics, and artists for short-form responses to the topic at hand. In this issue, contributors consider how athletic contests are portrayed on screen.Illustration by Ivy Johnson.Savanah Leaf on volleyballFilmmaker; director, Earth Mama (2023); former volleyball player for Great Britain, 2012 London OlympicsSavanah Leaf prepares to serve to the Algerian national team in the first round of the 2012 London Olympics.It’s hard for me to remember what it was like to be filmed as an athlete. The London Olympics were twelve years ago, and I honestly never really thought about the cameras. The audience was always kind of a blur, and I was in some form of a “flow state” so my mind felt detached. Now, the footage of the games is almost the only thing I have to remember.