Sports Stories for the Sports-Averse
A collection of Atlantic articles on what makes athleticism a deeply human endeavor
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
My colleague Gisela Salim-Peyer put it bluntly last weekend: “Many women love sports, but I am not one of them. I don’t want to play any sports, and I certainly don’t want to watch.” I’m personally quite aligned with Gisela here, but this year, I’m finding myself invested in the Olympics. Like Gisela, I’m discovering that this international spectacle of athletic excellence may be the exception to my sports-averse rule. Maybe that’s because the Olympics have a way of showing us what sports should be about: camaraderie, competing with oneself to surpass old goals and set new ones, and the joy of well-earned success (also, great outfits and glitter).
Think of today’s newsletter as a sports reader for the sports-averse or sports-ambivalent. I’ve rounded up a collection of Atlantic stories that celebrate what makes athleticism a deeply human endeavor, one that’s worth exploring even if you don’t see yourself as a “sports person.”
On the Joy of Sports
Why I Hate Sports but Love the Olympics
By Gisela Salim-Peyer
It’s the only time that female athletes get equal billing—but that’s only part of the explanation.
A Skeptic Attends the First Modern Olympics
By Stephanie Bai
The games didn’t always inspire global patriotic fervor.
Sports Are Great Because They’re Pointless
By Arthur C. Brooks
The most trivial things can build the strongest relationships.
Still Curious?
- The accidental spectator’s guide to improving sports: “Bearing witness to sports without any real emotional attachment, I’ve noticed several problems endemic to baseball, basketball, football, and soccer—and like a McKinsey consultant at a steel mill, I’ve developed ideas for how to remedy them,” Juliet Lapidos wrote in 2014.
- The joy of glory-free sports: Last winter, Lora Kelley recounted the pleasures of her mediocre-squash era.
Other Diversions
- How M. Night Shyamalan came back from the dead
- Anxiety is like exercise.
- What adults lost when kids stopped playing in the street
P.S.
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Heidi A., 27, from Philadelphia, wrote:
“I took this picture from the top of the cable car on Mont Blanc in France. The buildings and platforms up there have a fascinating mix of regular tourists like me and serious alpinists. There are sets of footprints and groups of alpinists visible in the background of the photo, climbing toward the summit. The other tourists and I clapped when the alpinist in the midground made it back to his friends, who were managing his rope from the platform. I was blown away not only by the beauty of the area, but also by the people around me!”
I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.
— Isabel
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