California passes a law that allows college athletes to get paid
Gov. Gavin Newsom passed SB 206, also known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, that allows college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness.
Athletics & sport
This archive covers progress in athletics and sport — from accessibility and inclusion initiatives to record-breaking achievements and policy reforms that expand who gets to compete. Stories here explore how sport shapes communities, health, and human potential.
Tokyo unveils 2020 Olympic medals, made entirely from recycled cellphones
The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee unveiled its Olympic and Paralympic medal designs. They are all completely made of over six million recycled cellphones.
World Surf League will now award equal pay to men and women athletes
17-year-old Caroline Marks became the first woman to win the same $100,000 prize as her male counterparts earlier this week when she won the first competition of the 2019 World Surf League’s Championship Tour.
Salem Red Sox to debut first all-female broadcast booth in professional baseball
The Salem Red Sox, the organization’s Class A affiliate, announced that their booth will feature professional baseball’s first all-female broadcast team this season. Melanie Newman and Suzie Cool will debut together on April 23.
Canada’s Eric Radford becomes first openly gay athlete to win Winter Olympics gold
Eric Radford became the first openly gay Olympic champion in the history of the Winter Games, by virtue of his role among Canada’s gold medalists in team figure skating. He and partner Meagan Duhamel took the top spot in the pairs free skate program with their show-stopping routine set to Adele’s Hometown Glory.
First ‘zero-emissions’ Winter Olympics kicks off in South Korea
The POCOG will aim to make the games environmentally friendly at all stages before during and after the events. The overarching goal is to make the games responsible for their carbon emissions and in the process release zero emissions.
Hillary and Norgay become first humans to summit Mount Everest
Mount Everest was summited for the first time on May 29, 1953, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached 29,035 feet at 11:30 in the morning. They lingered just 15 minutes at the top before oxygen forced them down. Their climb opened a new era of high-altitude mountaineering and brought overdue recognition to the Sherpa community.
Chamonix hosts the world’s first Winter Olympics, uniting nations on snow and ice
The first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France in January 1924, drawing athletes from 16 nations to race, skate, ski, and slide through the French Alps. American Charles Jewtraw took the inaugural gold in the 500-meter speed skate, and an 11-year-old Sonja Henie finished last — then returned to win gold twice. A quiet start to a century of winter sport.
Britain’s public schools begin shaping football into a rule-governed sport
Football codification began in the early 1800s in Britain’s elite schools, where Eton, Harrow, and Rugby started playing with defined goals, goalkeepers, and limits on rough contact. Versions of the Cambridge Rules followed in 1848, and by 1863 the Football Association set the shared rulebook. It was the quiet start of the world’s most universal game.
Ancient China’s cuju becomes the world’s first documented kicking sport
Cuju, an ancient Chinese kicking game, emerged during the Warring States era (roughly 475–221 B.C.E.) and is the earliest kicking sport with surviving written evidence. By the Song dynasty, it had professional players, a formal league, and paying audiences. FIFA now recognizes it as football’s documented ancestor — a reminder that organized sport long predates the modern age.