AI-remastered documentary honors legendary female athletes

The documentary tells the stories of female athletes' and their contributions to gender equality in the Olympics.

A documentary that pays tribute to great female athletes over the past century has been jointly launched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Chinese e-commerce and technology company Alibaba and its cloud arm Alibaba Cloud here.

The eight-minute film, To the Greatness of HER, tells the stories of these athletes who have made significant strides in sports, from a time when women were excluded from the Olympics to the upcoming Paris Games, where gender representation is expected to be equal.

Expressing his appreciation of Alibaba for using AI-powered technology, IOC President Thomas Bach said in a video message at the film's premiere on Wednesday night that "the film allows us to reflect on one of the most important priorities of the Olympic community, empowering women in and through sport."

The film includes a large share of restored and colorized archival footage and photos of these athletes, thanks to Alibaba Cloud's AI technology.

It features notable athletes including Susan Lenglen, the legendary French tennis player who was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and 21 in total; Zhang Shan, the first woman to earn an Olympic shooting sport gold medal in mixed competition at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics; and Kathrine Switzer, a trailblazer for women's marathon inclusion in the Olympics.

Switzer, 77, famously known as "forever 261," made history by participating in the Boston Marathon in 1967 despite facing resistance from race officials, one of whom even tried to rip off her bib-number 261 and throw her out of the course.

"That moment changed my life and showed the world that women must be taken seriously as people as well as athletes. This race propelled me and others to create opportunities for other women all the way to the inclusion of the women's marathon and beyond, in the Olympic Games," said Switzer at the premiere.

"The story of No. 261 has been told many times, and the AI-powered cloud technology just presented it in the most special way possible," she said.

"Looking into the future, I hope AI-powered cloud technology can help with athletic training, letting more people unlock their full potential and reach new heights."

Time Passes By, But Passion Remains

Another heroine of the documentary, Zhang Shan, the 56-year-old Chinese Olympic champion, remains sharp, confident and humorous when speaking about her career.

"I never reminisce about my youthful glory because I have always had it," she told Xinhua.

"Many people say they enjoy watching my competitions because they find my shooting stance to be graceful. Even when I was coaching the youth team, I rarely picked up a gun because I believe it is important for these young athletes to learn on their own. However, when I do pick up a gun, it still leaves them in awe," she said.

Zhang remembers vividly the medal ceremony at the Barcelona Olympics 32 years ago, when the silver and bronze medal winners, both males, raised her up high on the podium.

"My goal is not to defeat any male athletes. I just love shooting," Zhang said.

"In the history of the Olympics, there were many sports that were considered unsuitable for women in the past. But with social development and advancement of technology, women have demonstrated their abilities in various aspects of society. Therefore, I think it is not just about seeking equality, but more about seeing it as a progress for humanity," she said.

Winning the Olympic gold had a profound impact on Zhang's life.

"I was only 24 when I won the gold, and my life was just at its beginning. I have often said that I have been living on top of this gold medal my whole life -- having this gold medal made me more disciplined in my training and competitions since 1992," Zhang said.

"I cannot afford to be negligent because I feel that every move I make will influence the younger generation. I hope to be a role model and benchmark for them," she said.

Zhang retired two years ago, but sports still hold an important place in her life. She now serves as the vice president of the Sichuan provincial charity federation, while promoting electro-optical shooting among young people. She has also organized a dragon boat team with an average age of 60.

For Zhang, the essence of life is "to be the best version of oneself." "If every individual does their best, then we will all be fine," she said.

Magic Behind Time Travel

Shot more than a century ago, a scene showing Lenglen playing at her Wimbledon debut in 1919 looks as if it were filmed just yesterday.

A treasure trove of nearly 100 vintage film clips and photos has been reborn in high-definition with the AI technology of Alibaba Cloud. The engineers behind this transformation revealed their secrets to Xinhua.

"It's like embarking on a journey through time, not just for me but for all those who watch the documentary," said Huang Jun, a senior staff engineer on the Alibaba Cloud AI platform, and is in charge of the documentary restoration project.

Though still in black and white, the remastered footage no longer appears jittery and sped-up, as silent films usually do.

The Alibaba Cloud team uses sophisticated AI models and algorithms to recreate the missing visual information in these old photos and films, enabling motion to advance as smoothly as it does in contemporary film and to make the images look eerily modern, said Huang.

“We employ image super-resolution technology to convert low-resolution, blurry old photos into high-resolution images, and then we use advanced image coloring technology to add realistic colors to black-and-white photos, bringing them to life and making them more engaging,” he said.

Huang noted that the true test lies in coloring. With scant visual references available for the aged photos and films, achieving accurate hues poses a real challenge.

He highlighted the complexities, from varying skin tones of athletes based on sunlight exposure to the blurred backgrounds and inconsistent coloring across different elements, such as medals and surroundings.

"Different medals have different colors, especially silver medals, which can reflect sunlight and pose a challenge in achieving color balance," he said.

"But in the end, as demonstrated in the film, we've successfully eliminated the blurriness and restored vibrant colors to the photos."

"We want to pay tribute to women all around the world, creating an immersive experience that offers a deeper insight into the Olympic spirit and culture. That's the beauty of technology at its best," said Chris Tung, President of Strategic Development at Alibaba.