After Letsile Tebogo, McKenzie Long voices frustration on not appearing in Netflix documentary 'Sprint' despite being followed by film crew

McKenzie Long expressed disappointment over the athletes' stories covered in the Netflix docuseries, Sprint, since she failed to make the cut despite being followed the entire post-collegiate season. The 24-year-old reacted to the bias after Letsile Tebogo noted the docuseries was only about 'American' athletes.

Long, an NCAA athlete at the University of Mississippi rose to fame with her 200m title win at the 2023 SEC Championships. She continued her excellence at the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, winning the 100m and 200m titles in 10.82s and 21.83s, respectively. She also achieved the gold podium in the 4x100m relay, making Ole Miss the fourth college team to win all three events at the National Championships.

Shortly after, the NCAA standout competed at the US Olympic trials and qualified for the 200m in the Paris finals. She finished seventh in the finals with her fellow US sprinter, Gabby Thomas taking the win.

On November 13, 2024, as the second part of Sprint hit the OTT platform, the 200m Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo took to his X to write:

"This is an American show."

McKenzie Long chimed in to share how the team followed her in the build-up to the Olympics but didn't include her story in the episodes.

"I was another who they had followed all post collegiate..and was informed I wasn’t making the cuts in this season. It’s sad we put ourselves outside our comfort zone for this series yet our stories can’t be told."

Earlier this year, McKenzie Long lost her mother to a heart attack in Honolulu. In an interview with USA Today, she talked about how she felt her mother's presence during her debut Olympic run.

Besides McKenzie Long, Marie Josee Ta-Lou also felt disrespected for having missed the cut for Sprint

Marie Josee Ta-Lou Smith competes at the Diamond League Silesia. 2024. - (Source: Getty)

The first episodes of Sprint premiered on July 2, 2024, garnering love from global fans and athletes. However, Ivorian sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith opined that the docuseries only focussed on athletes who win and not everybody who fights their way up to the global stage.

"I feel really disrespected because when you say that you're going to do a series about the fastest people in the world, you show every people, you don't show only people who win.... I'm an African record holder, I have respect, people look at me, some other people from Africa see me as a role model," she said to The Inside Lane.

She continued:

"You don't follow people, record them for many hours, every time you just show the people who just win, this is not good...I think that this is a moment where they have to respect everyone coming from Africa, from everywhere in the world because we deserve respect."

Besides McKenzie Long, Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith also advanced to the Paris finals in the 100m but failed to earn a podium finish.