The short film utilises AI to restore and colourise vintage photographs of female athletes’ achievements from past Olympic Games

Alibaba film

Alibaba Group has premiered an eight-minute film, To the Greatness of HER, dedicated to the evolution of gender equality since the 19th century.

The company is a partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the film utilises Alibaba’s cloud-based AI to restore and colourise vintage photographs of female athletes’ achievements from past Olympic Games.

Clarity processing was used to enhance image resolution, while advanced AI models were used to colourise grayscale images with vibrant colours.

To the Greatness of HER features three prominent female athletes – Zhang Shan from China, Kathrine Switzer from the US, and Suzanne Lenglen from France.

Shan made history at the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 by winning the gold medal in a mixed-gender skeet shooting event. Switzer is a marathon runner, author, and advocator for women in sports, and made history in 1967 as the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon. Lenglen was a French tennis player and was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926.

In Paris 2024, 50% of the athletes are women, as the IOC has distributed quotas evenly between female and male athletes for the first time.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said: “To the Greatness of HER highlights the great progress of women in sports through the course of history. My heartfelt thanks go to our friends at Alibaba for using AI-powered technology to let the achievements of these women in sports shine through the full spectrum of colours. More importantly, the film allows us to reflect on one of the most important priorities of the Olympic community – empowering women in and through sports.”

Chris Tung, president of Alibaba Group, strategic development, added: “Alibaba is proud to collaborate closely with the IOC to champion inclusivity and equity, core values that Alibaba firmly upholds. By using cloud-based AI to deepen our understanding of the past and shine a light on the achievements of female athletes, this project is a great example to showcase how technology can be utilised to promote the values we cherish.”