Sport & Adventure Documentaries

Richard Waller, Otis Calef, and Jim Clark ride the 1,931-kilometre Old Spanish Trail from Los Angeles to Santa Fe on horseback. Once a key trade route between 1830 and 1848, the trail now faces challenges from highways and private land. Their journey underscores the need to protect and preserve our natural landscapes and trails.

Alpine guide Michele Cucchi leads us from the icy Karakorum to the Alps of Zermatt and the remote heights of Chepwa, Nepal. As glaciers retreat, revealing traces of the past and the remains of those lost, Cucchi and his team confront the challenges of climate change. They advocate shifting from conquering new heights to protecting fragile ecosystems through environmental and humanitarian projects.

The charming story of Angus, a 12-year-old boy from Australia who dreams of being the first foreigner to win one of Mongolia’s biggest horse races, the Naadam. He travels to the stunning Mongolian steppe with his family and searches for a trainer to take him on – a heart-warming and often dangerous journey of discovery where the stakes are high and there can be only one winner.

Damien Rider paddles and runs non stop around Phuket and skateboards Route 66 to raise awareness for his charitable causes.

Master Huang, a Taekwondo black belt and immigrant from Taiwan, reflects on a lifetime dedicated to martial arts since opening his New York studio in 1987. As he dreams of international success for his students, he now seeks a successor to carry forth the spirit of Taekwondo.

Embark on a thrilling seven-day adventure with two brothers racing along the open roads of Mexico in their 1965 Volvo Amazon 122S. How do you find a vintage part when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? And who do you need to know to complete the race?

Shukria Bahmani, Afghanistan's Muay Thai champion, triumphed globally, earning gold and cheers. Yet, she battles gender norms in her homeland, with threats to her career.

In Japan, sumo isn’t just a sport – it is almost a religion with its stars hailed as demigods. But it’s a world closed to outside influence, where scandals are immediately covered up.

If you’re a fan of drift racing the name Nigel Petrie is sure to ring a bell. In this cinematic documentary, the pursuit of speed leads Nigel to create a salt flat racer from a 350cc KTM, to realise a dream of competing at the salt flat speed trials on Lake Gardiner, South Australia.

In Russia and the former USSR, the extreme combat sport MMA has become a social phenomenon. The champions are superstars, adulated by their fans and paid fortunes. More than a sport, MMA is a social elevator, a political tool and even an instrument of propaganda glorifying the Russian man: virile, invincible and ready to defend the fatherland.

Plunge into the world of free diving, where darkness and muffled sounds heighten the tension as you hold your breath until the last possible moment. Captivated by the depths of lakes, rivers, and oceans, free diver Igor Liberti travels to the world's deepest blue hole in the Caribbean, where he competes and becomes the Swiss champion with a remarkable descent to 82 meters.

Sports Life presents sports stories, interviews with stars and reports from around the world. Find out how sport changes people's lives - because everything we know about life can be found in sport.

Since she started ski jumping at the age of seven, Lindsey Van dreamt of winning an Olympic medal. By the time the Olympics came to her home country of Canada in 2010, she had already won countless competitions, including 13 national championships, and was setting records that beat even the men’s. When the IOC refused to recognise women’s ski jumping as an Olympic sport, Lindsey and her teammates decided to sue the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics to force them to include female ski jumping on the basis of gender equality.

Gaza – a strip of land with a population of 1.7 million citizens, wedged between Israel and Egypt and isolated from the outside world. Forty-two kilometres of coastline with a harbor that no longer services ships. Hardly anything gets into Gaza and even less gets out. The young generation is growing up with very little perspective - occupied and jobless. But against this background there is a small movement. Our protagonists are part of the surf community of Gaza City. About 40 surfboards have been brought into the country over the past decades with great effort and despite strict sanctions. It is those boards that give them an opportunity to experience a small slice of freedom - between the coastal reminder of a depressing reality and the Israeli-controlled five kilometre marine border.

Travel agencies specialising in perilous holidays are offering organised trips to war zones and even areas struck by natural or nuclear disasters. In Afghanistan, a group of tourists scale the mountains of Hindu-Kush, climbing 4,000m above sea level in order to ski down this one-of-a-kind slope; in Indonesia, plucky thrill-seekers climb Anak Krakatoa, an erupting volcano; and in Ukraine, adventurous tourists come from all over the globe to visit the dead city of Chernobyl, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in human history.

Discover the captivating world of polo – explore the enduring bond between horse and rider through the lens of a family introducing the sport to a younger audience.

The meteoric rise, tragic career end, and hepatitis B battle of legendary Croatian midfielder Ivan Gudelj. How do you move forward when everything falls apart? How do you turn a losing game around? Is there life after football?

Football can be the crucible in which lessons of class, pride and perseverance are learned and disputed – lessons that will last a lifetime. A moving story of ‘haves’ versus ‘have-nots’, this documentary follows two rival towns in Maine – blue-collar Rumford and wealthy, coastal paradise Cape Elizabeth – whose residents settle their differences on the high school football field.

Oklahoma to California, 2600km, $420, 30 days, 5 bikes, 2 guitars and one of the most influential novels of the 20th century - this is the story of adventure, human connection, and an in-depth look at inequality and disenfranchisement in today's America told through the lens of John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath'.

The true story of bowling legend Bob Perry, who battled drugs, alcohol, the Mafia, and federal prison to emerge as one of the greatest bowlers that ever lived. Reinventing himself as Bob Purzycki, he made a remarkable comeback at the Super Bowl High Roller in Las Vegas, clinching the grand prize of US$100,000 – champion once again at the age of 47.