“BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
THE PICK: Icarus (Netflix)
SI’s Dan Greene offered up in detail why Bryan Fogel’s doc on the vast Russian doping conspiracy deserved all the plaudits it has received. Amazing work.”
Thirty-six minutes into Icarus, the year’s best sports documentary, its premise is shot. In 2014, filmmaker Bryan Fogel had set out to prove international sport’s anti-doping system was “bulls—” by competing in the grueling Haute Route cycling race, doping himself to the gills for a year under a doctor’s supervision, avoiding detection, then riding in the same race the next year to a much higher finish. But midway through the second race, while enjoying a modest year-over-year improvement from 14th to 11th, the gearshift on Fogel’s bike breaks. He tumbles down the leaderboard, derailed and distraught.”