Summer is the perfect time for sports. The sun is shining, people have time off work, and everyone is in the mood for some exercise. However, not all sports are designed for summertime. Here are the best summer sports. Frisbee golf Frisbee golf might not be the most well-known sport on this list, but it’s perfect for summer. It involves throwing a flying disc into a target. The rules are similar to golf (hence the name), and you can play … [Read more...]
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Are Officially Postponed – Here Are Athletes’ Reactions
Due to the continuous spread of the coronavirus worldwide, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), led by President Thomas Bach, and the Tokyo Olympic organizers, led by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have officially decided to postpone the Summer Olympics. The news came on March 24, the day after an Olympic committee member said the postponement had been decided. The Olympics will be postponed until no later than Summer 2021, making this … [Read more...]
Sakura Kokumai Just Became the First American Ever to Qualify For Olympic Karate
The World Karate Federation announced the first 40 athletes heading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics today, including the first (and so far, only) American to qualify: Sakura Kokumai, a 27-year-old Hawaii native who's been doing karate for 20 years. "21 qualifiers over the course of two years. Traveling, training, walking into the ring alone. Not easy. But I never gave up," Kokumai wrote on Instagram. "Tokyo . . . I'm coming for ya." Kokumai competes … [Read more...]
US Soccer Says the Women’s Team Requires Less Skill Than the Men’s – Yes, You Read That Right
Image Source: Brad Smith/ISI Photos On May 5, three months before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, US women's soccer is slated to go to court with the team's governing body, US Soccer Federation (USSF), over a gender-discrimination lawsuit filed in March 2019 - and the federation's latest, and truly outrageous, claims in the case are causing even more controversy. (If you need a rundown of the USWNT lawsuit, this is a very helpful breakdown of everything … [Read more...]
NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournaments Will Be Played Without Fans Due to Coronavirus Concerns
Image Source: Getty / Grant Halverson The NCAA tournaments are going to have a very different feel to them this year. On Wednesday, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced that due to concerns around coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, Division 1 men's and women's basketball tournaments will not be canceled but will be played without fans and "only essential staff and limited family attendance." As confirmed cases of coronavirus continue to rise … [Read more...]
For This Record-Breaking Weightlifter, a Bipolar II Diagnosis Was Life Changing
Kate Nye's competitive weightlifting résumé reads like a dream, a surefire shot straight to the top. Just two years after her 2016 competitive debut, Kate won the 2018 national championships and took home a silver at junior worlds. In 2019, she went one better, winning the junior and senior world championships in the snatch, clean & jerk, and total for the women's 71 kg division. She broke five snatch records and two total weight records … [Read more...]
You Don’t Have to Like Sports to Be Captivated by These 10 Sports Documentaries on Netflix
Maybe you're not a sports person. Maybe you don't even know what a first down is. However, the great thing about sports documentaries is that you don't have to like or even understand the game to become deeply invested. If you teared up during Brian's Song and felt your heart grow three sizes while watching The Blind Side, chances are you'll find a documentary just as entertaining. From hockey to boxing to competitive cheerleading, Netflix has … [Read more...]
The Cast of Cheer Judged Cheer Routines From Popular Shows and Jerry . . . Was Not Impressed
If there's one thing I've learned from Netflix's Cheer, it's that if you want to make mat, you'd better have your technique on lock, and nobody knows that better than the Navarro cheerleaders themselves. In a video shared to Netflix's YouTube channel, Jerry Harris, Morgan Simianer, and La'Darius Marshall watched a few cheer routines from popular TV shows, and they were . . . not impressed, to say the least. "Girl, I need jumps. Like, that's not … [Read more...]
Syrian Table Tennis Player Hend Zaza Is 11 Years Old and Just Qualified For the Olympics
Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza was just 7 years old during the Rio Olympic Games. Four years later, she's the winner of the West Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, which took place in Jordan last week, and is officially headed to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Now 11, Hend is looking to become one of the youngest Olympians ever: the fifth-youngest in history and reportedly the youngest since Romanian figure skater Beatrice … [Read more...]
Simone Biles Doesn’t Care About Anyone Else’s Beauty Standards, and We’re Here For It
There's no denying that Simone Biles's talent is out of this world, and naturally, when you're thriving, people are going to try and stop your shine. A few weeks ago, Simone penned a letter discussing the competition of beauty in partnership with SK-II to challenge beauty standards. She explained that her experience with beauty ideals has become "the competition I didn't sign up for" and "almost a daily challenge for me." Simone expressed that … [Read more...]
Ever Wondered Why Gymnasts Are Covered Head to Toe With Chalk? Let Us Explain
It's an image you've seen plenty of times before: just before beginning a routine, a gymnast dusts their hands with a white powdery substance. If you've ever been curious about what that powder is or why it's used, we've got answers! Usually just referred to as "chalk," the substance is crucial to helping top-tier gymnasts perform at their best. Gymnasts' chalk is an inorganic salt, magnesium carbonate (chemical formula MgCO3). The most popular … [Read more...]
Brianna Salinaro Was the First Taekwondo Athlete With Cerebral Palsy – Now, She’s Headed to the Paralympics
Taekwondo has been in the Olympic Games since 2000, but this Summer, the sport will make its debut at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. One of the two athletes from the US who have qualified to compete is Brianna Salinaro, the league's first Taekwondo athlete with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and, accordingly, the first athlete with CP to fight on the world stage. The 21-year-old from Massapequa, NY, was also USA Para Taekwondo's first woman athlete, period. … [Read more...]
Olympic-Bound Cyclist Chloe Dygert Breaks Her Own World Record, Twice – on the Same Day
Less than five months out from the Summer Olympics, Chloe Dygert is busy grabbing record after record on cycling's biggest stages and cementing her status as the cyclist to beat in Tokyo. Most recently, the 23-year-old American blew away her previous 3000m individual pursuit world record - twice, in the same day - at the 2020 World Track Cycling Championships, first breezing by it by a full three seconds (3:17.2) in qualifying on Feb. 29, then … [Read more...]
UCLA Gymnast Nia Dennis Brought the Black Girl Magic With This Beyoncé Floor Routine
Skill, energy, and personality are what make great floor routines, and I can confirm that UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis has it all. Nia's performance pays homage to Beyoncé's Homecoming documentary and Black culture, and I am here for all of it. Not to mention, her athletic prowess is undeniable. I'm not a gymnast, but I'm giving this floor routine the score of flawless because I love it that much - and so did Nia's teammates and all the fans in the … [Read more...]
As If Beam Wasn’t Hard Enough, Watch This Gymnast Land Her Signature Flip to One Knee
Doing gymnastics is commendable in itself. I know because I spent well over a decade trying to excel at the perfection-fixated sport, and it didn't always come naturally to me. But, when you get creative and execute a move that no one does in competition, you leave your mark - and that's a level all its own. As of the 2019 World Championships, for example, Simone Biles had four skills officially named after her. And Auburn University gymnast … [Read more...]
Molly Seidel Had Never Run 26.2 Miles – Now She Joins 5 Other Marathoners Heading to the Olympics
Image Source: Getty / Kevin C. Cox After 26.2 miles on a windy Saturday in Atlanta, on one of the hilliest Olympic marathon trials courses, three women and three men qualified to represent Team USA at Tokyo 2020. There was a huge field of starters this year, the largest ever - 235 men and 450 women, according to NBC. That's 685 marathoners total compared to 364 back in 2016. Winners of those Tokyo tickets on the women's side include first-place … [Read more...]
Which Country Has Won the Most Summer Olympic Medals? It’s Not Even Close
With the 2020 Summer Olympics on the horizon, we're feeling a bit nostalgic about past Games and the athletes who keep us coming back for more. One of the questions on our minds lately: which country has the most Summer Olympic medals of all time? While you could probably guess that the United States stands in the lead, you may be surprised to learn that the US has more than double the overall medals of its nearest competitor. The International … [Read more...]
After a World Cup Win, Soccer Star Lindsey Horan Still Isn’t Satisfied
As incredible as it was to win the FIFA Women's World Cup this past summer, US Women's National Team midfielder Lindsey Horan said she left France feeling dissatisfied. Over the course of the tournament, Lindsey racked up two goals and two assists, including a pitch-perfect lofting pass to Alex Morgan that stamped the USWNT's ticket to the final. Not at all shabby for a player coming off the bench in most games. But that was the thing: despite … [Read more...]
18 Movies and Documentaries About the Olympics That’ll Get You Excited For Tokyo 2020
The start of the 2020 Summer Olympics may still be months away, but, if you ask us devoted Olympics watchers, it's never too early to start getting psyched for all the athletic feats you're sure to witness. Unlike Olympic athletes, who spend their entire lives training and preparing for this moment, we have a slightly different way of gearing up for the Games: lounging on the couch, watching as many Olympic films as we can. The best ones are … [Read more...]
Could the Coronavirus Outbreak Put the 2020 Olympics in Jeopardy? It’s Possible
As coronavirus continues to spread globally, officials must now consider the possibility that the virus could impact the upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Although Japan is not one of the hardest-hit countries at the moment, at least one member of the International Olympic Committee suspects that, if Toyko is unable to host the Olympics, they simply won't go on at all. The IOC's longest-serving member, former Canadian swimmer Dick Pound, told … [Read more...]
With One Seriously Stunning Floor Routine, Jade Carey Wins Gymnastics World Cup Gold
Gymnast Jade Carey inched closer to her dream of Olympic qualification on Feb. 24 in Melbourne, Australia. The American gymnast performed a high-flying floor routine that secured gold at a Gymnastics World Cup competition, and it's not hard to see why: each tumbling pass had incredible height and execution; her split leaps showed off major flexibility; and she nailed one stuck landing after another. Jade ended up with a score a 14.366 - more than … [Read more...]