Two years after Aliya Mustafina won her second Olympic gold on uneven bars in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, you would never have imagined that the internet would be analyzing pictures of her body with the fervor typically associated with geopolitical crises. For you, that’s gymnastics. And maybe for all female athletes. After giving birth to her daughter Alisa in 2018, Mustafina took a break from competition and resumed her elite training, but by her own admission, she had gained four pounds. In an interview that year, she stated, almost dismissively, that she didn’t particularly enjoy diets, they didn’t work…
Author: Michael Martinez
Every athlete has a turning point in their career. When Sonay Kartal stopped mid-match against Elena Rybakina and left the court on a bright Indian Wells afternoon in March 2026, it was that moment. Not only did she lose that day, but she also gave up the sport she had been playing every day for eighteen years. Her lower back was diagnosed with a pars stress fracture. What had happened to the young British player was a topic of discussion on social media and tennis forums for months. Fans who had seen Sonay Kartal subtly emerge as one of Britain’s…
Every true comeback story has a point at which the physical reality of it becomes nearly impossible to comprehend. Between the snap and the swing of his right leg, Auburn senior kicker Alex McPherson made a 34-yard field goal as time ran out, splitting the uprights and giving the unranked Auburn team a 27-24 victory over the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Before he returned to the locker room, Toomer’s Corner was covered in toilet paper. The two years that preceded it are what elevate this to more than just a fantastic college football moment. Just months after being named a Freshman…
Nobody spoke aloud when Chris Olave failed to show up for practice on Wednesday. During an NFL season, players get sick, miss a day, and then return. However, the quiet worry inside the Saints facility became a little louder when Thursday came, and Olave was still not on the field. Before traveling to New York to play the Giants in Week 6, the Saints had a 1-4 record. Earlier in the week, Gayle Benson, the team’s owner, had publicly referred to the start as “unacceptable.” The last thing they needed was for their most potent offensive weapon to be sitting…
There is a version of this story that makes perfect sense: a retired coach battles illness with the same tenacity that he required on the field. However, if you take the time to consider the specifics of Mark Richt’s circumstances, it becomes more intricate. Something more subdued, and somewhat more truthful. Richt made his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis public in May 2021. For those close to him, the news wasn’t shocking; it seemed that people had noticed a change in his gait, and the questions were becoming so numerous that Richt thought it was time to speak up. He spoke calmly,…
Witnessing a talented athlete gradually vanish due to something that doctors are still trying to identify, rather than a broken bone or torn ligament, which can be repaired with surgery, can be particularly frustrating. It is unsettling to observe the current state of affairs surrounding Kristaps Porzingis. The 31-year-old center for the Golden State Warriors used X on Wednesday, October 14, to respond to the mounting rumors regarding his precise condition. The tone of the post was completely human—resigned and a little irritated. He stated that he is “working with doctors and experts” to regain full health and that he…
Having a condition that makes you look like someone you’re not when it flares up is a particular kind of cruelty. Selma Blair has spent the majority of her adult life managing that circumstance, first in private, then in public, and now in a Queens courtroom. Blair was ejected from a Delta Airlines flight on October 11 following an altercation that, depending on the version you read, included biting one flight attendant, punching another, and allegedly attempting to open the aircraft door in midair. She was arrested by dusk. By morning, her identity had been established by the headlines. What…
Thousands of people stopped mid-scroll at one point in late 2024. The Oscar-winning director of Jojo Rabbit, who once portrayed a vampire concerned about flat whites, Taika Waititi, had shared something on Instagram that didn’t appear to be a joke. The Spinoff claims that his face bore the weight of someone breaking bad news to his three million followers. People hesitated. They held out. Then the moment went by, leaving behind something more difficult to shake. Even after the alarm subsided, that uneasiness persisted. It became ingrained in the growing perception that Waititi has changed in some way over the…