Sports

There is nothing better for the summer doldrums than a blast of Olympic glory. For a couple of weeks this summer, athletes are showing us how they flip, run, swim, climb, and paddle and even breakdance to prove they are the best in the world. We're checking in with the 2024 Olympics, including wins for gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Katie Ledecky, and sprinter Noah Lyles.

Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In 1966, the governing body of the Olympic track and field event started mandatory examinations of all women athletes. These inspections would come to be known as "nude parades," and if you were a woman who refused the test, you couldn't compete.

We're going back almost a century to the first time women were allowed to compete in Olympic track and field games, and to a time when a committee of entirely men decided who was a female and who wasn't.

Today on the show, we bring you an episode from a new podcast from CBC and NPR's Embedded called Tested.

The U.S. has never won an Olympic medal in table tennis. But the interest of an NBA star has helped put a spotlight on the three-member women's team ahead of its first event Tuesday.

As the U.S. men's basketball team prepared for Tuesday’s game against Brazil, NPR's Juana Summers talked the team’s managing director, Grant Hill, to ask how he views the competition.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with 18-year-old Olympic skateboarder Minna Stess about her journey in the sport.

There are some 43 million refugees in the world, according to the U.N.'s refugee agency.

The 37 of them competing in Paris as the Refugee Olympic Team are fighting for something more than just athletic excellence.

We hear from judoka Muna Dahouk and kayaker Saman Soltani.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.