The Cutting Edge
Toe pick! Moira Kelly plays a snotty figure skater who needs a partner if she hopes to make the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France—and D.B. Sweeney's washed-up hockey player is the man for her (on the ice and off, natch).
Balls of Fury
Nineteen years after a veritable table-tennis disaster at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul resulted in his father's death, Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) finds himself doing ping-pong demonstrations for tourists in Reno, Nev. That is, until he's given a chance to put the hurt on his dad's murderers with the help of his little friend. (We mean his paddle.)
Chariots of Fire
Cue the music. The 1982 Best Picture Oscar winner, inspired by real-life events, is about two British runners—one Christian and one Jewish—competing in the 1924 Summer Games in Paris, each going for the gold for his own reason.
The Ringer
Johnny Knoxville learns some life lessons in this comedy about an average Joe who, in order to get money for his pal's finger-reattachment surgery (BTW, this a Farrelly brothers production), poses as a high-functioning mentally challenged athlete, figuring he's a cinch to win gold at the Special Olympics.
Munich
Eric Bana and Daniel Craig play government-sponsored assassins in the Steven Spielberg-directed revenger thriller about the aftermath of the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, where a terrorist attack left 11 Israeli athletes and coaches dead.
Prefontaine
Jared Leto starred in 1997 as long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who set a U.S. record in the 5,000-meter event but was killed in a car crash at 24 while training for the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal.
Without Limits
Disney's addition to the Prefontaine legend in 1998 starred Billy Crudup as the runner and focused on his relationship with coach and eventual Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland).
Personal Best
Perhaps better known for some steamy girl-on-girl action between Mariel Hemingway and real-life hurdles star Patrice Donnelly, the 1982 film was also about efforts to make the U.S. national track-and-field team bound for the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. The heartbreak here comes when the United States ends up boycotting the entire event.
Walk, Don't Run
In his final film, English businessman Cary Grant rents a room in Tokyo from a buttoned-up compatriot and plays matchmaker for her and an American race-walker, in town to compete in the 1964 Summer Games.
Miracle
It's easy to forget that U.S. vs. Russia at Lake Placid in 1980 was just a semifinal, but the "Miracle on Ice" ultimately did lead to a gold medal for the U.S. ice hockey team after they dispatched Finland. Kurt Russell played coach Herb Brooks in the 2004 film.
Ice Castles
Robbie Benson helped Lynn-Holly Johnson's figure skater with Olympic aspirations see "Through the Eyes of Love" after a freak accident leaves her blind in the 1978 tear-jerker.
Cool Runnings
Jamaican bobsledders? Exactly. The 1993 comedy taught a new generation that, yes, Jamaica did send forth its first ever national bobsledding team at the 1988 Winter Games in Alberta. They didn't win, but you can bet your Red Stripe that they were shown proper respect in later years.