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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

David Roth

Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert of Team Canada compete during Men's Round Robin between Team Canada and Team Great Britain on day eleven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on February 17, 2026.

Podcasts

Across The Hog Line, With John Cullen

Lauren Theisen

This Is So Stupid

I Finally Understand This Tara Lipinski Commercial

Patrick Redford

Silver medalist Gu Ailing of China poses for photos after the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing women's freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Photo by Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Olympics

Eileen Gu Will Never Be The Traitor JD Vance Wants Her To Be

Barry Petchesky

MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 18: Quinn Hughes #43 of Team United States celebrate his victory goal in overtime with Matthew Tkachuk #19 and Jack Hughes #86 during the Ice Hockey Men's Play-off Quarterfinals match between Team United States and Team Sweden on day twelve of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

Quinn Hughes Almost Smiled

<p>Lesley Ryder is a writer and a host covering the Chicago Red Stars. She co-created <a href="https://galpalsports.com/">Gal Pal Sports</a>, a platform that lives to make women’s sports fun for everyone.</p>


Lesley Ryder

Kendall Coyne #26 of Team United States controls the puck against in the second period during the Women's Playoffs Semifinal match between United States and Sweden on Day 10 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 16, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

All I Want Is A Women’s Hockey Broadcast That Talks About The Hockey

MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 18: Mitch Marner of Team Canada celebrates a goal during the Ice Hockey Men Quarterfinals match between Canada vs Czechia on day twelve of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)

Canada Took A Czech Beating And Survived

Kathryn Xu

Alysa Liu of Team United States competes during the women's short program.

How Is A Figure Skater Like A Tree?


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

Davide Ghiotto of Team Italy, Andrea Giovannini of Team Italy,Michele Malfatti of Team Italy in action during the Speed Skating Men's Team Pursuit

Are The Fellas In Sync?

Kelsey McKinney

a wolf dog stands on the ice in front of the olympics barrier

Beautiful Wolfdog Now An Olympian

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<div dir="ltr">Georgia Cloepfil is the author of <i>The Striker and the Clock</i> (Riverhead, 2024). Her other writing can be found in <i>The Yale Review</i>, The New York <i>Times</i> Magazine, <i>n+1 </i>and elsewhere.</div>
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Georgia Cloepfil

The Suffering Of Lindsey Vonn

France's Emily Harrop competes during the qualifications of the Mixed Relay event at the Ski mountaineering (ISMF) World Championships in Les Crosets on March 3, 2025. (Photo by GABRIEL MONNET / AFP)

Competitors In The Newest Olympic Sport Will Scale Extraordinary Heights Of Suffering

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Canada's #29 Marie-Philip Poulin reacts during the women's play-off semi-final ice hockey match between Canada and Switzerland at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, on February 16, 2026.

Canada Needs Marie-Philip Poulin To Bail Them Out One More Time

Alex Sujong Laughlin

An image of (left to right) Maddie Mastro, Breezy Johnson, and Maxime Germain with their knitted creations, taken from their respective Instagram accounts.

Let’s Check In With The Knitting Olympians

Austin Florian of Team United States wears a Venom helmet.

A Tour Of The Sick-Ass Helmets Of Skeleton

Casey Wasserman at the Vogue World: Hollywood Announcement at Chateau Marmont on March 26, 2025 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Casey Wasserman, Radioactive With Epstein Fallout, Says He Will Sell His Agency


<p>Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, <em>The Other Olympians</em>, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.</p>


Michael Waters

Officials in hazmat suits remove a medal around an olympian's neck

Chromosome Testing Will Take Sports Back To The Dark Ages

a USA bobsledder pushes a sled (with a long exposure so it looks artsy)

Which Terrifying Sliding Sport Would You Brave?

LIVIGNO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Ikuma Horishima of Team Japan crosses the finish line backwards after a fall as he competes in the Men's Dual Moguls 1/8 Finals against Nick Page of Team United States (not pictured) on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on February 15, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

This Backward Guy Medaled

Marc Kennedy of Team Canada competes in the curling men's round robin between Canada and USA during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

The Big Canada-Sweden Curling Beef, Explained

Ilia Malinin of Team United States reacts after competing in the Men Single Skating on day seven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 13, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

Even Ilia Malinin Is Mortal

US President Donald Trump (R) looks on as LA 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman (L) speaks during an event on creating a White House 2028 Olympics task force in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2025. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Famous Clients Bail On Casey Wasserman Over Gross Sex Emails To Ghislaine Maxwell

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia.

Ukrainian Skeleton Slider Banned From Competition Over Helmet Honoring Athletes Killed By Russia

Wojciech Chmielewski and Michal Gancarczyk of Team Poland compete in the Men's Doubles Run 1 on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Sliding Centre on February 11, 2026 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

High-Level, Actionable Insights From Watching Doubles Luge For The First Time

MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 11: Elias Pettersson #40 of Sweden tries to score against Goalie Damian Clara #i20 of Italy during the Men's Preliminary Group B match between Sweden and Italy on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by RvS.Media/Robert Hradil/Getty Images)

Damian Clara Was Italy’s Improbable Bastion

Ilia Malinin (United States of America) competes during the Figure Skating Men Single Skating Short Programme Final Figure Skating competition.