ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Just how much endurance does a sprinter need? The answer is: a lot more than you think. A new campaign by Swiss sportswear company, On, aims to reframe sport’s single-minded focus on winning by highlighting perseverance as an equally essential quality for athletes. The campaign is led by a 171-second film, The Infinite Sprint, which paints an intimate portrait of German sprinter Alexandra Burghardt (29) and her 22-year-long journey to becoming a national champion, and is released just as the athlete celebrates another winning performance in the 200m race at the 2023 German Athletics Championships in Kassel.
Centered on the surprising message (for a sports brand) that winning isn’t everything, the film is a powerful reminder that mental strength and a resilient attitude are just as important as crossing the finish line first, whether you’re a professional, aspiring runner or running as a hobby or way of keeping fit.
Filmed in Burghardt’s hometown of Altötting, Germany, and featuring original archive moments from the very beginning of her career, the film portrays Burghardt’s journey with both a sense of childlike wonder and unwavering willpower. It juxtaposes vignettes of Burghardt’s grueling training schedule with fictional scenes of a young girl of a similar age to Burghardt when she first set out to pursue her dream of becoming a professional sprinter and making it to the Olympics. The evocative visuals are overlaid by Burghardt narrating the challenges of her 22-year-long journey to become a champion, concluding with her powerful realization that “The distance between dream and reality is perseverance, and with every day, this distance gets a little shorter, until the two meet.”
Gessica Giulini, On Sports Marketing Lead and Producer of the film, said, “This is not meant to be a documentary. We were aiming to create a content piece with a narrative arc and personal insight into athletic life beyond the common “zero to hero”-story. We want to inspire people from all walks of life to connect with Alexandra’s story, to take heart and realize that, even though it might take longer than you think if you persevere, you can reach your goals. The most important thing is not to give up but to Dream On.”
Written by Los Angeles-based creative director Oliver DeVitre and shot by award-winning director and editor Mischa Meyer, The Infinite Sprint is a new style of content film, subverting the traditional sports documentary format with fictional elements in order to connect to a wider audience. The campaign was created by On in collaboration with Oliver de VeVitre’s transatlantic creative agency Gold for Cash Inc. and produced through Akkurat production company in Berlin.
The Infinite Sprint represents a new twist on a traditional format – showcasing the human behind the athlete in an authentic and unfiltered manner, yet also using a script and direction that casts a spotlight on the mental strength needed to make the necessary sacrifices, to believe in oneself despite all setbacks, and, most of all, to never give up. Stylistically, the film is carefully crafted to convey both the intensity and grace of Alexandra’s sprinting prowess and to let original footage taken from Burghardt family’s VHS tape archive from her childhood. Playing with time in different ways was the guiding principle for the use of different cameras, speed, and angles – a high-speed drone typically used for capturing motorsport action was needed to capture the shots of her sprinting because she was too fast for a standard drone to keep up with.
Oliver DeVitre fka Frank, Creative Director of Gold For Cash, commented, “This project was an amazing opportunity to team up with an athlete whose story has not been told yet and give it the emotional scale it deserved. I loved turning Alexandra’s decades-long, split-second battle into something that hits you right in the feels, no matter how invested you are in the world of track and field.”
Director Mischa Meyer, Akkurat, added, “We all have childhood dreams. To realize them and to stay true to your dream throughout your life is one of the biggest personal challenges a person can face. Putting this personal journey of Alexandra into a film was what really excited me about this project. An athlete at their peak and showing how far they’ve come to get there. And it was an absolute pleasure to work with someone equally dedicated to their craft as myself.”
Oliver and Mischa have been collaborating with On since 2020. Currently based in LA, DeVitre is a creative director who has worked for some of the world’s top advertising agencies including Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam and VCCP Berlin, where he created award-winning work for global brands including Nike, BMW Motorrad Global, Sky, Heineken and Converse.
Also based in Los Angeles, Mischa is a commercial, music video, and film director and editor originally from Stuttgart, Germany. Following success in the commercials world, his first short film, ANT, was selected in over 30 international film festivals as well as winning a Young Directors Award at Cannes 2021, while his latest short film, In The Shadow of Palms, recently premiered at Tribeca.
CREDITS
Athlete: Alexandra Burghardt
Client: ON AG
Sports Marketing Lead: Gessica Giulini
Project Manager Athlete Strategy & Partnerships: Jacob Wessel
Agency: Gold For Cash Inc.
Creative Director: Oliver DeVitre fka Frank
Director: Mischa Meyer
DoP: Louis Lustermann
Production: AKKURAT Studios
Producer: Nian Tang
Production Assistant: Sophie Werche
Executive Producer: Rocco Kopecny
Music: Rwdy Music
Edit House: Cabin
Editor: Nathan Rodgers
Colorist: Mikey Pehanich
Postproduction / Online: SLGH Hamburg
Special Thanks to: Kasia März, Familie Burghardt, Dominic Bilic & Crossfit Altötting TV Altötting, SV Wacker, Burghausen, Freiwillige Feuerwehr Altötting, Horst Strömer
