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Defector

Patrick Redford

Canadian weightlifter Boady Santavy fails at an attempt to break the world record during the men snatch competition during the Enhanced Games at Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, 2026. The first-ever Enhanced Games -- widely dubbed the "Steroid Olympics" -- took place Sunday in Las Vegas, where elite sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters will vie for world records while taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)

Olympics

The Enhanced Games Were A Predictably Stupid Failure

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) speaks to media representatives before the conclusion of the Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026. The photo shows her eyes and forehead below the Olympic rings.

IOC Reinstates Chromosome Testing, Banning Trans Women From Competition

Kelsey McKinney

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

Beautiful Wolfdog Now An Olympian

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

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

The Olympic rings are seen outside the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the opening day of a executive board meeting in Lausanne on March 19, 2024.

What Will It Take To Fix SafeSport?

Dennis Young is the news editor at Front Office Sports.

Dennis Young

Amy Cragg from Portland, Oregon, celebrates at the finish line after winning the US Women's Marathon Olympic Team Trials with a time of 2:28:27 in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2016. Highlighted Joanna Zeiger behind her, who finished last, the image is a GIF and zooms into her

At The Olympic Trials Marathon, DFL Means Pain Over Regret

Ten years after the London 2012 Olympics were based here at Stratford, is a landscape of nature that surrounds the original Olympic rings in The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, on 14th June 2022, in London, England. The former main Olympic venue area was controversially re-landscaped from an old industrial estate. Its promised legacy is a green space now known as The Elizabeth Park which remains a wildlife habitat and whose centrepieces are still the Velodrome and Aquatic Centre used by the public while the main Olympic stadium is home to West Ham Football Club. (

Ex-Union Chief Donald Fehr Says Olympic And Paralympic Athletes Need Their Own Type Of Union

Rose Eveleth is the host of the podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flash Forward</a>, and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/book/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the book by the same name</a>.&nbsp;

Rose Eveleth

If Horses Are Gone From Modern Pentathlon, Is It Time For Mechanical Bulls?

David Roth

Russian Olympian Kamila Valieva after completing her gold-medal performance at the 2022 Winter Olympics, with The Distraction logo at upper right.

Podcasts

Talking About Ambient Scuzz, Athletic Transcendence, And The Olympics

The offices of USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee are seen on November 6, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Gymnastics

Every Promise Made By USA Gymnastics In The Larry Nassar Settlement

Olympic gold medal gymnast Jordyn Wieber, Olympic bronze medal gymnast Jamie Dantzcher, speedskater Bridie Farrell and figureskater Craig Maurizi testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security Subcommittee during a hearing in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. The atheleats testified during the hearing titled 'Olympic Abuse: The Role of National Governing Bodies in Protecting Our Athletes.'

Congress Won’t Fund The Commission It Created To Fix Olympic Sports

Performers are seen during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Reminder: The Olympics Are In Japan, Where It Is A Different Time

Smith contesting the 2020 half marathon championship.

Marathon Pacer Decides To Just Keep Racing, Wins With Olympic Qualifying Time

GUADALAJARA, MEXICO - MARCH 28: Sebastian Soto #19 of United States reacts after losing the semifinals match between Honduras and USA as part of the 2020 Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying at Jalisco Stadium on March 28, 2021 in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images)

Soccer

The U.S. Men’s Soccer Team’s Hideous Olympic Qualifying Failure Is A Complete Embarrassment

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Jocelyne Lamoureux #17 of the United States scores a goal against Shannon Szabados #1 of Canada in a shootout to win the Women's Gold Medal Game on day thirteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea.

The Lamoureux Twins Are Leaving Their Sport Better Than They Found It

The US Capitol Building is seen at dusk in Washington, DC.

Congress: The Solution For Stopping Sexual Abuse In Sports Is More Meetings

Dvora Meyers is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn. She writes about gymnastics and other topics in her newsletter, <a href="https://dvora.substack.com/">Unorthodox Gymnastics.</a>

Dvora Meyers

Svetlana Khorkina falls on the vault at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. It was not her fault.