The 25 Best Sports Docs Ever

From 'Free Solo' to 'The Endless Summer,' these films show why the genre is the best in the game. [View in Browser]( [Esquire Sunday Reads]( [The 25 Best Sports Documentaries of All Time]( The 25 Best Sports Documentaries of All Time For almost as long as cinema has existed, we’ve filmed sports. And why not? The beauty, courage, and determination of athletes are not only aesthetically compelling, but their struggles are inherently dramatic. So is the culture surrounding games and competitions. With the advent of televised sports—and, in recent decades, faster, more modern ways of documentation—sports documentaries have proliferated as a popular genre. The styles run the gamut—from cinema verité to the stately Ken Burns approach—and there are dozens of incredible works that you won’t find on this list simply because there is too much great stuff to reduce to 25. So for those of you who sorely miss The Great American Cowboy (an Oscar winner), On Any Sunday, 16 Days of Glory, John McEnroe: In The Realm of Perfection, or any number of 30 for 30 segments, including The Two Escobars, well, we don’t blame you. But this is our list, and we stand by it. After all, what is a sports list if it doesn’t start an argument? [Read the Full Story]( [MORE FROM ESQUIRE]( [Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch?]( Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch? In December 2021, The New York Times called best-selling debut novels “the bald eagles of the book world.” Of the fifteen that appeared on the newspaper’s hardcover-fiction list that year, writer Elisabeth Egan wrote, “only five were by non-celebrity authors who had not been anointed by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush, or the Good Morning America Book Club.” Today, it’s not enough to land a spot in one of these coveted book clubs. 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