🏆 The good, the bad and the ugly of the Olympics

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Plus, Flavor Flav takes on gender pay equality at the Games this year. Wait, what?

August 6, 2024

Est. reading time: 5 min 19 sec

The Olympics: the world's most elaborate soap opera, disguised as a sporting event. It's a quadrennial spectacle where nations put aside their differences (or at least pretend to) and gather under the guise of friendly competition. But let's be honest, the Olympics are anything but friendly. The Olympics is a global phenomenon that lays bare the best and worst of humanity, where the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat play out against a backdrop of complex social issues, political tensions, and the never-ending quest to push human limits.

They're a battleground for political agendas, a stage for social activism, and a breeding ground for scandals that would make your head spin faster than a figure skater attempting a quadruple axel.

This year's Games can be an absolute circus, and we're front row center with a bucket of popcorn. A French pole vaulter loses his medal thanks to an unfortunate bulge malfunction, Simone Biles faces backlash for celebrating her wins (and letting her husband wear her medal!), and a gender firestorm erupts around an Algerian boxer. Oh, and did we mention the drag queen Last Supper resemblance that set the opening ceremonies ablaze? It's a chaotic whirlwind of controversy, triumph, and pure, unfiltered drama – basically, everything we love about the Olympics, all wrapped up in one glorious mess.

Hey, this wouldn't be the Olympics without a healthy dose of hypocrisy, right? After all, this is the same event that historically sidelined women athletes and is only now, in 2024, reaching gender parity. And yet, somehow, a convicted rapist gets to compete while women are banned from wearing hijabs.

But here's the kicker: despite the BS, women are absolutely dominating this year. In the U.S., women athletes have already snagged twice as many gold medals as their male counterparts.

So buckle up, buttercup, because Reckon’s here to break it all down for you. We dissect the drama, analyze the spectacle, and maybe even shed a tear or ten for the sheer audacity of it all. Get ready for a roundup that's more exhilarating than a Sha’Carri Richardson photo finish – it's the Olympics, Reckon Report style.

And that’s not all – stay tuned to our reporting for a relentless pursuit of truth, equality, and the perfect Olympic meme worthy of a gold medal.

Not just Olympic boxer Imane Khelif: 10 times transphobia took the spotlight from women athletes

The reinstatement of Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for failing to meet sex-testing standards, has ignited a heated debate about transphobia in sports. Despite both athletes being cisgender women who meet the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) criteria, their participation has been met with unwarranted attacks and discriminatory remarks from anti-trans advocates and certain media outlets.

Read more about the history of breaking

On Storytelling, Motivation and Money

In the latest episode of Reckon True Stories, hosts Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon sit down with writer Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh, The Queen of the Night, and How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. The three writers talk about their journeys in the publishing industry, and what success has meant to each of them, specifically in regards to money. They discuss Chee’s essay, “My Inheritance Was My Father’s Last Lesson To Me,” where he writes about his relationship to money, how it changes over time, and what the relationship between anxiety, money, and body looks like.

Chee:“I've been thinking a lot about, how do we decide the terms under which we make art? What do we make art for? And are we making art to help ourselves survive? Does it help others survive? The novel that I am working on now, Other People's Husbands, the one that I just sold, is something I wrote to make myself laugh, in part, during a very difficult time. And so it's my hope that it will help other people do that too.”

Please rate, review and share the episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify and more.

Listen to Reckon True Stories Episode 5 now

Wanna talk about the Olympics? Don't be shy - hit reply or shoot me an email at mzenarosa@reckonmedia.com.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Ryan will be back next week.

Michelle