
Ryoyu Kobayashi Becomes First Non-European Man To Win Overall World Cup Ski Jump Title
This weekend, Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi broke Europe’s decades-long domination of the ski jump World Cup by becoming the first non-European man to win the overall title....

Residents Face Sky-Rocketing Rents As NFL Takes Over Inglewood
Earlier this week, lawmakers in Inglewood, California pushed through a rent stabilization ordinance that seeks to protect residents who are struggling to stay in their homes due to surging rents in the area. One of the main reasons that rents have skyrocketed is due the construction of a $2.6 billio...

Japanese Government Wants Evacuees To Return To Fukushima In Time To Make Olympics Look Good<em></em>
One of the few things that the Olympics do well, aside from putting cities in significant debt that can take decades to pay off, is symbolism. It was on display last year in Pyeongchang when the North and South Korean delegations marched into the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, and if th...

This Furry With Abs Is The Creepiest Mascot In Sports
Sports team mascots are creepy as a general rule. It comes with the territory to a certain extent, but I can’t really think of one that I don’t find terrifying or at least moderately disquieting. It’s probably something to do with the disproportionate ratio of head-size to body. But at least most o...

If The Olympics Want Breaking To Succeed, They Have To Get The Music Right<em></em>
Last month, Paris 2024 organizers voted to include breaking in the 2024 Summer Games. If the IOC votes next year to make it official, breaking will be in the program for 2024 Olympics....

The Obsession With Caster Semenya's Body Was Racist From The Very Beginning
A week before the 2012 Olympics, a group of researchers and academics gathered for the International Convention on Science, Education, and Medicine in Sport in Glasgow, just over 400 miles north of London, where the Games were being held. One of those athletes was South African runner Caster Semenya...

The Obsession With Caster Semenya's Body Was Racist From The Very Beginning
A week before the 2012 Olympics, a group of researchers and academics gathered for the International Convention on Science, Education, and Medicine in Sport in Glasgow, just over 400 miles north of London, where the Games were being held. One of those athletes was South African runner Caster Semenya...

President Of Gymnastics' Athletes' Commission Says Abuse Survivors Are In It For The Money
Liubou Charkashyna, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation’s athletes’ commission—which was created to represent gymnasts’ interests—used a recent interview with Belarussian media to express skepticism about the frequency of abuse in sports and victims’ motives....

President Of Gymnastics' Athletes' Commission Says Abuse Survivors Are In It For The Money
Liubou Charkashyna, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation’s athletes’ commission—which was created to represent gymnasts’ interests—used a recent interview with Belarussian media to express skepticism about the frequency of abuse in sports and victims’ motives....

World's Top Bridge Player Suspended For Doping With Synthetic Testosterone
The World Bridge Federation announced today that Geir Helgemo, the world’s top-ranked bridge player, has been suspended after testing positive for two banned substances: synthetic testosterone and clomifene (a female fertility drug)....

Olympic Athletes Are Trying To Get A Seat At The Bargaining Table
Athlete representatives in the U.S. Olympic movement recently met in the basement of an airport hotel in Chicago to discuss the next step in mobilizing against their respective chartered national governing bodies and the USOC—creating a union....

Japanese Scientists Are Trying To Keep 'Guerilla Rainstorms' From Ruining The Olympics<em></em>
What’s worse than rain on your wedding day or on your parade? Rain during your outdoor athletic event at the Olympics....

2024 Olympics Set To Become Much Cooler With Inclusion Of Breaking
After its successful trial run at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires this past October, Paris 2024 organizers have decided to put breaking into the program for the Summer Games. In addition to breaking, Paris 2024 voted to add skateboarding, climbing, and surfing to the program. (The last ...

USA Gymnastics Hires NBA VP Li Li Leung As New CEO<em></em>
Four months after Nike-hating Mary Bono stepped down as president of USA Gymnastics after about five days at the helm, the organization has named Li Li Leung as its new boss. Leung, who has a sports marketing background, had previously worked at the NBA as a senior vice president. She also has exper...

The Cost Of The Tokyo 2020 Opening And Closing Ceremonies Has Risen 43 Percent
Another day, another report of costs increases for the Olympics. Just a few days after we learned that the Rio organizing committee’s debt from the 2016 Summer Games was more than three times higher than what it was originally supposed to be, we have a report that cost overruns are already plaguing ...

Despite Claims To The Contrary, The IAAF Is Still Persecuting Caster Semenya
The Times reported yesterday that the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) will argue in front of the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that Caster Semenya, the 2016 Olympic champion in the 800 meters, is “biologically male.” The IAAF quickly issued a statement denying this c...

Japanese Sports Official Worries That Olympic Excitement Will Decrease Because Star Swimmer Was Diagnosed With Leukemia
This week Japanese swimming star Rikako Ikee announced that she has been diagnosed with leukemia and is starting treatment for the cancer. Ikee, 18, won six gold medals at the 2018 Asians and was expected to contend for several medals at the 2020 Olympics, which are being hosted in Tokyo....

The Westminster Dog Show Is The Past And Future Of Obsessive Dog Ownership<em></em>
I really don’t know anything about dogs despite having owned one for the past six years....

North And South Korea Want To Co-Host The Olympics, And The IOC Gets To Keep Playing Hero
In its new year’s letter, one of the key accomplishments the IOC touted was improved relationships on the Korean peninsula, all because in 2018 the North and South Korean delegations marched in the opening ceremonies at the Winter Games together. “With these powerful symbols and gestures in PyeongCh...

More Than Two Years After The Games, Rio's Olympic Debt Keeps Rising
Just because the Olympics are long over doesn’t mean that we’re done with the fallout from the Rio de Janeiro Games. According to a report from Brazil, the debt incurred by the local organizing committee has dramatically increased to more than three times the original estimate. In December 2016, the...