Top 10 WoC Athletes of 2016 (and possibly 2017)

by Christienna Fryar and Shireen Ahmed   2016 may have been one of the most taxing years in recent history with the loss of sporting and artistic greats, but it also showed tremendous sportsmanship and glory from female athletes. For all its problems, the Olympics have reliably become one of the best showcases of women’s sports and… Read More

What The Paralympics and Colin Kaepernick Tells Us About Honouring War Veterans

by Christienna Fryar  For sports fans in the United States, early September brings the return of football[1]: college football; high school football; and of course, the NFL. For all its fanfare, the beginning of the football season can be a fairly perfunctory affair. This season, not so much. From the moment journalists realised that San Francisco… Read More

The Women’s Olympics

by Christienna Fryar One of the prominent Cassandra stories leading into the Rio Olympics was the decision some famous male athletes took to skip the Games. Most notably in golf, with luminaries like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth opting to spend their summers elsewhere. However, the panic around these absences was based upon a false assumption… Read More

It’s time to address the persistent stereotype that ‘Black people can’t swim’

by Christienna Fryar  The swimming competition at these Olympics was exceptional, and in a meet of dazzling racing, nail-biting finishes, and unexpected medallists, there was no more important a finish than when Simone Manuel surged at the end of the 100 metre freestyle, tying Penny Oleksiak for gold. Manuel became the first black woman to win… Read More

Venus Williams: Tennis’s Big Sister

by Christienna Fryar  A few weeks ago, a black woman won Wimbledon. She beamed as she received her trophy in the stands. Venus Williams; 2016 Wimbledon doubles champion. She’s still got it. As her younger sister Serena has marched her way toward G.O.A.T status, it’s become all too easy to lose track of Venus. Yet it’s… Read More

Rio 2016: What We’re Looking Forward To

With Rio 2016 less than a week away, a handful of the writers you’ll be reading – and hopefully enjoying – over the next month give us their view on what and who they will be looking forward to seeing at the Olympics and Paralympics:   Shane Thomas writes the ‘Two Weeks Notice’ column at… Read More