Chicago This Week Episode 4
Amid Trump’s travel ban, fencers keep their weapons raised
By Emine Yücel Medill Reports Kamali Thompson, a Team USA saber fencer training for the 2020 Olympics, woke up Thursday morning to 30 missed messages. Her friends and family in the U.S. were calling, urging her to cut her training trip short and return home from Paris immediately. “Luckily for me, I was able to […]
Ninja Warrior joins obstacle course racing to set sights on Olympics
By Junie Burns Medill Reports Acclaimed athletes such as gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. But behind the scenes, Ian Adamson and Bob Clark are hard at work to introduce a new sport to the Olympics: obstacle course racing joined by Ninja Warrior athletics. Every season of […]
Women’s wrestling wins gold, gains in popularity, but still faces adversity
By EmmaKate Austin When Rio Olympian Elena Pirozhkova was in seventh grade, her brother persuaded her to join wrestling. Not knowing what she was getting herself into, she assumed it would be something along the lines of the WWF or WWE’s Monday Night Raw. She thought she would be jumping off of ropes, tackling her […]
Analysis: Why the open water events will captivate Olympic audiences
By Peter Dawson And the award for the most intriguing draw of the 2016 Summer Olympics goes to… Surprise, the open water events. Sailing, rowing and the 10-kilometer swim certainly don’t offer the same excitement as watching Usain Bolt running the 400m, or Team USA Basketball going for a third straight gold medal. Analysis What […]
Troubled water? Athletes, scientists still unsure about potential health risks in Rio
By Peter Dawson In August of 2016, 50 Olympic open-water swimmers are expected to plunge into Copacabana Bay in Rio de Janeiro despite two Associated Press reports last year about viral contamination in nearby Guanabara Bay. Viruses in human intestinal and respiratory tracts may cause “vomiting, explosive diarrhea and respiratory problems,” according to one of […]
Yoda to young fencers: Strong, the force is
By Nicole Sedivy Whether they’re using sabers or “lightsabers”, the children at Lincoln Square Fencing enjoy hitting each other with their weapons. [vimeo 158398583 w=474]
Could these tiny judokas follow in grandpa’s Olympic footsteps?
By Nicole Sedivy On a recent evening, three little Cohens-in-training – all wearing judogi uniforms – were sticking their tongues out at each other, falling down, laughing and bouncing against the mats on the wall. The kids just want to have fun: Strangulation, arm bars and pins can wait a few years. But not forever. […]
The road to Rio: Music and meditation help prepare woman wrestler for the Olympic Qualifiers
By Nicole Sedivy Just 25 seconds before the women’s freestyle finals were about to begin, Sarah Hildebrant was still pacing around the mat in her red Team USA singlet, with “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC blasting through the headphones that covered her messy French braids. Her adrenaline was rushing. She felt the rage. Hildebrandt, the two-time Pan […]
The Olympic Mom of Colorado Springs
By Caley Chelios An especially tall third-grade girl stood beside the U.S. women’s volleyball team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs one day in 2008. The little girl had always been embarrassed by her height but when she met the Olympians, a group of women that showed her the value in it, “she […]
