Amy Bass

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MundoAsia,

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has not been seen in public since she used Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, to accuse former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual misconduct. Her post has been deleted, and the 35-year-old doubles champion all but disappeared from Chinese online media.

Amid global outcry over Peng's fate and with "Me Too" publicly resurging in China, it looks like the Women's Tennis Association is ready to take the lead, which is noteworthy.
Historically, tennis as a sport has not been known for prioritizing the care and keeping of its young female athletes' mental or physical health.

Yet, in addition to the declaration by the United Nations Human Rights office that China needed to not only prove that Peng is alive and well, but also engage in a thorough investigation about her allegations of sexual assault, the Women's Tennis Association has stepped up.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, ,

It was one of the most hotly anticipated events of the Rio Olympics -- the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, and the crowd was revved and ready Sunday night. A lot of competitive history was at stake.

So when the relay squads walked out, fans greeted them with all of the intensity that such a marquee event deserves.

Except for the Russians. When the Russians walked out, the thunderous cheers from the international crowd turned to jeers.

Suddenly, there was booing in the Olympic Games. And that's rare. The global event traditionally sees fans adopting underdogs and cheering on the very last competitor to cross the line, rather than throwing shade in any direction.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

A month to go before the Olympic Games get started, and reports have emerged of a new drug-resistant bacteria growing in the waters around Rio de Janeiro. The news is yet another cause for concern for the world's athletes and spectators alike. But are these Games, as some seem to suggest, doomed to failure?

Certainly, the last thing Rio needed on top of worries about crime and infrastructure was another headline about the possible health risks of going to these Games. After all, long before Brazilian scientists flagged two beaches near where sailing events are scheduled to take place as harboring this superbacteria, the presence of raw sewage in the water had been on the minds of sailors, some of whom wonder if merely closing their mouths while competing will be enough.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

When is it time to panic about the Olympics?

It's true, things are not pretty in Rio de Janeiro, even as the Olympic torch arrived Tuesday in Brazil, with three months until the opening ceremony of the Games.

There's the raw sewage in Guanabara Bay, slated for sailing events. The doubts over whether the subway line connecting the Olympic venues will be finished in time. The horror of the collapse of a recently built $12 million seaside bike path (two dead, three injured), calling into question the integrity of the other structures the city has built for the Games -- for which, by the way, ticket sales are still hovering at only about 62%.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internacional, ,

It was a scene right out of a movie: Swiss officials swept into the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich and arrested several leaders of FIFA, the global governing body of the world's most popular sport, soccer.

It serves as a stark reminder, with all due respect to the rather indecisive Wells Report over the so-called Deflategate, that in sports, it isn't always the athletes and coaches who are accused of cheating.

In its 47-count indictment, issued in Brooklyn, the U.S. Department of Justice charged that some 14 people, many with official roles in FIFA, took part in a 24-year corruption scheme to fill their wallets at the expense of the sport.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

This World Cup final looked to answer a question that has been surfacing throughout this tournament, and perhaps -- considering the hold King James has had on U.S. basketball fans in the past few weeks -- all of sports: Is it the team, or is it the star?

The last game of this tournament pitted the best player in the world, Messi, against the best team in the world, Germany. And if nothing else, this match demonstrated definitively that while players like Messi might win games, teams like Germany win titles.

So Messi gets the Golden Ball. Germany gets everything else.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

Oh, figure skating. Not again. Didn't anyone tell you? The Cold War is over. You are supposed to be reformed.

At the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, South Korea's Yuna Kim, a 2010 Olympic gold medalist, skated an ethereally beautiful and outwardly perfect long program in the ladies free skating competition. She then lost gold to Russia's Adelina Sotnikova. Few saw that coming.

On paper, Sotnikova had one more triple jump than Kim, including the triple loop, which Kim does not do. Although Sotnikova had an awkward moment on her own double loop, her spins were faster, her jumps higher, and unlike Kim, who looked exhausted at the end of her gorgeous skate, Sotnikova flew across the ice with great speed and then looked like she could do it all again.…  Seguir leyendo »