The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels.
Olympics
Belated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics finally opened Friday with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games.
Some of the Games’ most high-profile moments will incorporate clever examples of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” like medalists standing on 3-D printed podiums made from recycled plastic collected by the Japanese people.
Surging COVID-19 cases in Tokyo have hit a two-month high that almost guarantees the Japanese government will declare a new state of emergency to start next week and continue for the duration of the Tokyo Olympics.
The pressure of hosting an Olympics during a still-active pandemic is beginning to show in Japan. The games begin July 23, with organizers determined they will go on, even with a reduced number of spectators or possibly none at all.
The decision comes as opposition among Japanese to holding the Games in July remains high, though may be softening, and as new infections in Tokyo have begun to subside.
This is a clear sign that Tokyo Olympic planners and the International Olympic Committee are moving forward despite public opposition, warnings about the risks of the games becoming a spreader event, and Tokyo and other parts of Japan being under a state of emergency until June 20.
Tokyo is under a COVID-19 state of emergency, but International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates has said the games will open on July 23 — state of emergency, or no state of emergency.
The State Department said Tuesday the Biden administration is consulting with allies about a joint approach to China and its human rights record, including how to handle the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused organizers to postpone this summer’s Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. We discuss the delay with three Olympic athletes from the Chicago area.
She won back-to-back Olympic medals in the seven-event heptathlon and still holds the world record of 7,291 points in the event. We talk sexism in women’s sports and more with Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
The Winter Olympics begin in just two weeks, and at least one athlete from the Chicago area will be there. Meet a figure skater from suburban Carpentersville who’s been preparing for the games for 17 years.
The torch will be lit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Olympics in a little over two weeks. Meet some of the Chicago-area athletes representing Team USA.
A daughter of Jesse Owens, the African-American runner who dominated the 1936 Berlin Olympics, will speak at the opening of "Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936," the Illinois Holocaust Museum's new special exhibition.
He's the top ranked windsurfer in the country and the first Chicagoan ever to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team. Ash-har Quraishi catches up with first-time Olympian, Bob Willis.
"American Experience"
Olympic hero Jesse Owens is profiled in a new PBS documentary premiering Tuesday night on WTTW11. We talk with two of Jesse Owens' daughters about his remarkable life.
