World Cup Final: England and Spain’s Starting Lineups
Spain is ready to go: It released its lineup almost two hours before kickoff, and the only change is notable. But so is England: It...
Wanted: Female Athletes. Multiple Vacancies.
Brooke Walker spent that first night watching as much Australian rules football as she could. She did the same the next night, and the night...
A Night With the Best Baseball Team in New York
About a half-hour before a mid-August Brooklyn Cyclones game, a family of three, a reporter and a middle-aged man dressed in a Jedi robe walked...
How Nonbinary Runner Nikki Hiltz Rose to the Top of Track
A transgender pride flag appeared in the stands of Hayward Stadium in Eugene, Ore., just as the middle distance runner Nikki Hiltz stepped onto the...
The Real Tahiti Olympics Celebrate Polynesian Culture
Drenched in sweat, lungs heaving, Christopher Ravatua looked like any other athlete in the wake of a hard-fought win. But the remains of the contest...
One Long Reporting Trip Around the World
While growing up in a small town on Louisiana’s Cajun prairie in the 1950s and ’60s, I longed to see the world. I read the...
John Devitt, Champion Swimmer With a Tarnished Gold Medal, Dies at 86
John Devitt, an Australian champion swimmer who was awarded a gold medal in the showcase race of the 1960 Rome Olympics even though he had...
After a False Start, Sean Payton Aims to Reset the Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos had just finished a training camp practice in 90-degree August weather under their new coach, Sean Payton, when the players marched into...
The Most Impressive World Championship Team Isn’t a Country. It’s a Brand.
Dathan Ritzenhein, the coach of On Athletics Club, was juggling a couple of jobs on a brisk morning this spring. As members of his elite...
Darryl Strawberry Is Not Trying to Save You
It was a lazy, humid weekday afternoon at Citi Field, and the early birds were taking a steam bath. Ed Kranepool, an original Met, was...
At Inter Miami, Lionel Messi’s Only Complaint Is the Humidity
The version of Lionel Messi who has become South Florida’s reigning sport king is not the playmaker in his prime that he was for Barcelona...
The Blind Side of Sports Storytelling
Of course America loved “The Blind Side,” the 2009 movie about a homeless and hapless Black teenager rescued from a bleak future by a wealthy,...
Australia Loved the Matildas. Will It Continue to Love Women’s Sports?
The morning after Australia’s dream run at the Women’s World Cup ended one win short of the final, Denisse Lopez, 34, found a quiet spot...
Some Transgender Women May Be Barred From Women’s Chess Competitions
The future of transgender women’s participation in high-level women’s chess competitions seems uncertain, after the International Chess Federation introduced new regulations effectively barring many from...