sports

The 57th Guinness Book of World Records is out today, and among the parrot who can slam dunk a basketball and Archie the world's shortest bull is Johanna Quaas, the world's oldest gymnast.

Clare Balding has been a regular fixture on the sports scene since the early ‘90s. She’s a former amateur jockey, and she’s one of the few out lesbians in British television. Her coverage of the 2012 Olympics drew rave reviews, and won her a prestigious contract as the face of Channel 4’s racing coverage as well as the Paralympics coverage starting next week over on the BBC.

But it hasn’t all been a feminist Balding lovefest in the British media.

In the aftermath of the Olympics, ending as it did with a whimper rather than a bang thanks to Friday’s disappointing closing ceremonies, the impact of the past two weeks is only just starting to sink in. It marked a number of firsts for women, including the first women from Saudi Arabia to participate in the Games, and the first female boxers to compete for an Olympic medal.

Following Tiki Gelena’s record-breaking win for Ethiopia in the women’s marathon on Sunday, it’s easy to forget that women’s distance running has a relatively short history in the Olympics.


Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana crosses the finish line. Image: EPA

If you thought this year’s Olympics would be a sexism-free zone, you were forgetting about the notoriously chauvinistic Mayor of London, who likened the female volleyball players to “wet otters” when urging viewers to tune in to the Games. Boris Johnson’s mammalian predilections aside, we have to resist the temptation to gloss over the issues that still affect women athletes, while still celebrating their success.

Zoe Smith kicking ass in the Games.

Handy reading resource website A Mighty Girl, "the world's largest collection of books and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls," has a list up just in time for the Olympics!

The Olympics started as an über-macho, male-only competition in ancient Greece. While a lot has changed since then, women are still facing sexism when it comes to the Games.

In honor of the French Open this week, it felt appropriate to highlight the achievements of the female singles winner from 56 years ago: Althea Gibson. Long before Venus and Serena started making waves in the tennis world, Gibson was not only the very first African American tennis player to win ANY of the major Grand Slam tennis tournaments independent of each other, she won three of the four (the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open) during her amazing tennis career.

After witnessing some of the ugliest effects of sports culture play out this past week, it's good to see that some douchebags are being held (somewhat) accountable for their actions. In Buffalo, Wyoming, Pat Lynch stepped down as Buffalo High School football coach after circulating a "Hurt Feelings Report" survey for his team before a playoff game. The survey asks you to check if you are "thin-skinned," "a pussy," "a queer," "have woman like hormones [sic]" among other options.

Today's Douchebag Decree goes to (drum-roll please)... Sepp Blatter! The FIFA President has earned this distinction thanks to his cavalier and massively insulting response to the serious question of gay football fans' safety at the 2022 World Cup