Audi “#Lane 8” directed by Sam Coleman.

Sam’s spectacular piece for Audi & Ogilvy tries to capture the mental challenge of Wayde van Niekerk’s world-record breaking 400m final win at the 2016 Olympic Games. ⁣Van Niekerk’s broke a 17 year old world record in the 400 metre sprint, all from the eighth lane. No one had won from there before.

Staggered well ahead of the rest of their competitors, an athlete in lane 8 has no one to chase, and no-one to follow. It’s a lonely run. A run that tests your inner resolve, your reserves of physical and mental stamina, and of course, your courage. Running in lane 8 demands 300 metres of intensely anaerobic, high-speed sprinting with little to no insight on how your performance compares to those around you. You have to give your all, without knowing if your all is good enough. To win from this position, an athlete has to run a perfectly paced race, with nothing to guide them but their own rhythm and sense of how best to navigate the distance. It’s for this reason that Wayde’s historic 2016 run was often referred to as the lonely sprint.

Watch the video above.

CREDITS

Director: Sam Coleman
Producer: Laura Sampson (Giant Films)

Exec Creative Director: Tseliso Rangaka
Associate Exec Creative Director: Nicholas Wittenberg
Creative Directors: Carlos Carrasco, Neil White
Art Directors: Sibs Zihle, Scott Fowler
Writers: Steven Lipschitz, Sandhya Mathura, Taryn Sher
Account management: Nicole Williams, Tom Prentice, Alexis Leih
Agency producer: Nicola Davidsson

Director of Photography: Rory O’Grady
Editor: Matthew Swanepoel (Priest)
Colourist: Terry Simpson
Online: Blake Prinsloo (2 + 3 Post)

Sound Design: Stephen Webster, The Workroom
Original Composition: Marcus Wormstorm, Honeymoon Studios