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Weston pictured in 1909 sporting his signature walking outfit.

Edward Payson Weston: The Most Famous Athlete You’ve Never Heard Of

In 1861, Edward Payson Weston walked the 500 miles from Boston to D.C., and launched a legendary career as a pedestrian in the process.
by Lily Applebaum via Boundary Stones on June 24, 2025
Zdeněk Koubek's ID card.

Discrimination Against Trans Olympians Has Roots in Nazi Germany

1934 world champion runner Zdenek Koubek, boxer Imane Khelif, and how far we haven’t come on gender in sports.
by Michael Waters, Alex Abad-Santos via Vox on August 1, 2024
A collage of George Eyser, St. Louis imagery, and Olympic medals.

A Forgotten Turner Classic

Who was George Eyser, the one-legged German-American gymnast who astounded at the Olympic Games?
by Joshua Prager via The American Scholar on June 3, 2024
Football player on the ground, grabbing his head in pain.
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‘Another Player Down’

How concern about injuries is changing sports.
via Retro Report on November 20, 2023
A pole vaulter pointing the end of the pole at the camera.
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Pole Vaulting Over the Iron Curtain

When it became clear that the United States and its allies couldn’t “liberate” Eastern Europe through psychological war and covert ops, they turned to sports.
by Matthew Wills, Toby Rider, Kevin Witherspoon via JSTOR Daily on May 12, 2023
March Madness Stadium

A Harsh Reality Lies Beneath the Glory of March Madness

Despite captivating the nation with their athleticism every March, collegiate basktball players remain an exploited labor force for the profit of the NCAA.
by Theresa Runstedtler via CNN on March 18, 2023
Three muscle builders pose at Muscle Beach on the Santa Monica Beach in California, 1949.
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Gay Panic on Muscle Beach

The skin and strength on display at Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach aggravated American fears of gender transgressions and homosexuality.
by Livia Gershon, Elsa Devienne via JSTOR Daily on August 26, 2022
Tsökahovi "Louis" Tewanima became an Olympian while being forced to attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

The Olympic Star Who Just Wanted to Go Home

Tsökahovi Tewanima held an American record in running for decades, but his training at the infamous Carlisle school kept him from his ancestral Hopi lands
by Kathleen Sharp via Smithsonian Magazine on May 20, 2021
Together with McGovern image of several diverse individuals smiling on a magazine like image.

A Political Education

Ray Schoenke started campaigning for George McGovern in 1971 because he wanted to make a difference. The experience ended up changing his life.
by Jesse Berrett via Victory Journal on November 9, 2017

The Drugs Won: The Case for Ending the Sports War on Doping

Two former anti-doping professionals think the fight against performance-enhancing drugs is doing more harm than good.
by Patrick Hruby via Vice Sports on August 1, 2016
Marty Reisman playing table tennis with the ball in the air.

The Real Marty Supreme

Marty Reisman, a brilliant, hustling ping-pong showman, rose from NYC clubs to global fame, clashed with officials, defied the sponge era, and left a legend.
by David Davis via Defector on November 12, 2025
Charles Oldrieve's photo and newspaper articles about his journey.

In 1907, This Daring Performer Walked on Water From Cincinnati to New Orleans

Charles Oldrieve used custom-made wooden shoes to float on the water’s surface and propel himself forward.
by Erica Westly via Smithsonian Magazine on October 30, 2025
Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul Jabbar practicing martial arts.

When Bruce Lee Trained With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When Bruce Lee met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he was still known as Lew Alcindor, the most hyped young basketball star in history.
by Jeff Chang via Literary Hub on September 25, 2025
Georgia Bulldog Football team warms up at their stadium.

A Historian’s Notes on College Football’s New Money Era

College football’s NIL era has freed athletes but fueled chaos, soaring costs, and fan backlash.
by James C. Cobb via Zócalo Public Square on September 18, 2025
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

Fifty Years After History’s Most Brutal Boxing Match

The Thrilla in Manila nearly killed Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
by Vann R. Newkirk II via The Atlantic on September 16, 2025
Althea Gibson holding her tennis racket at the London airport.

Ahead of the Game

Althea Gibson, one of the great tennis players of the twentieth century, made segregation in her sport untenable.
by Sasha Abramsky via New York Review of Books on September 4, 2025
Joseph Pilates and Romana Kryzanowska illustration of them doing pilates.

Bodies by Joe

With his strange machines and an uncanny, intuitive understanding of muscles, Joseph Pilates created a new technique for improving strength and movement.
by Alma Guillermoprieto via New York Review of Books on July 31, 2025

"College Sports: A History"

A new book considers the challenges of controlling the commercialization of college sports.
by Glenn C. Altschuler, David Wippman via Inside Higher Ed on November 26, 2024
Drawing of a competetitve pedestrian walking in the late 1800s with spectators watching.

America’s Earliest Sports Stars Were … Professional Walkers?

Walking needs no publicist. The simplest, most accessible form of exercise has been around since humans first foraged and traveled on the ground.
by Jackie Mansky via Zócalo Public Square on October 18, 2024
Picture of a baseball card of designated runner, Herb Washington.

Speed Kills

Two striking reminders of the game-changing potential of great speed and its limited value unless accompanied by other essential skills.
by John Thorn via Our Game on October 7, 2024
Three ring binder filled with a baseball card collection.

Batting by the Numbers

The evolution of baseball’s perfect lineup.
by Neil Paine, Michelle Pera-McGhee via The Pudding on September 24, 2024

Hail Mary

In the 1970s, some athletes began questioning the alliance between sports, conservative Christianity, and politics.
by Paul Putz via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on September 9, 2024
Nine synchronized swimmers underwater in a pool.
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Why No Men Will Compete in Synchronized Swimming in Paris

For the first time, men are permitted to compete in artistic swimming at the 2024 Olympics. But none will.
by Vicki Valosik via Made By History on August 5, 2024
Parade of U.S. Olympic team members, 1960.

At the 1960 Olympics, American Athletes Recruited by the CIA Tried to Convince Soviets to Defect

Al Cantello, a star of the U.S. track and field team, arranged a covert meeting between a government agent and a Ukrainian long jumper.
by Erik Ofgang via Smithsonian Magazine on August 1, 2024
Skateboarder doing trick on ramp.

How a Generation of Women and Queer Skateboarders Fought for Visibility and Recognition

On defying gender norms and expectations in extreme sports.
by Deborah Stoll via Literary Hub on July 18, 2024
A photograph of TJ Hicks running in the 1904 Olympics with his two coaches holding him upright.

How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time

Athletes drank poison, dodged traffic, stole peaches and even hitchhiked during the 24.85-mile race in St. Louis.
by Ellen Wexler, Karen Abbott via Smithsonian Magazine on June 27, 2024
Zdeněk Koubek running.

Human Velocity

“The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports” upends long-held assumptions about trans people’s participation in sports.
by Michael Waters, Frankie de la Cretaz via The Baffler on June 7, 2024
Zdeněk Koubek.

A Forgotten Athlete, a Nazi Official, and the Origins of Sex Testing at the Olympics

In 1936, the Czech track star Zdeněk Koubek became world-famous after undergoing surgery so that he could live openly as a man.
by Michael Waters via The New Yorker on June 1, 2024
Pete Rose on a baseball diamond, head bowed.

For Pete’s Sake

A new book traces "the rise and fall of Pete Rose, and the last glory days of baseball."
by Christopher Caldwell via The Washington Free Beacon on May 12, 2024
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar slam dunking basketball

How Lew Alcindor Became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The early years of a future basketball icon.
by Scott Howard-Cooper via Literary Hub on March 18, 2024
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