Simone Biles’ Olympic Team Final Withdrawal Could Help Athletes Put Their Mental Health First

Biles’ decision comes as athletes, particularly since Michael Phelps revealed his struggle with depression, have come forward about their experiences with anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. Just a little over a month ago, Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open after citing the hurtful effect of press conferences on her mental health, and her struggles with depression.

 As Covid Cases Hit Record High in Tokyo, Can the Olympic Bubble Hold?

With the Games approaching their midway point, promises of a “safe and secure” event are being put to the test.

 How safe are the Tokyo Olympics from COVID-19?

With Olympic bubbles ‘broken’, health experts say safety measures at COVID-delayed Summer Games are neither adequate nor properly enforced.

 I’m Tired of Being Cynical. I’m Watching the Olympics

What has been sold as a moment of global unity and celebration of human achievement now feels as rotten as everything else. Is it possible to still watch in good faith? Or is this another broken institution we need to burn down?

 Meet 6 Heroes Who Helped Battle COVID-19 Before Competing in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

Like everyone else, Rodríguez spent the first months of the pandemic in a state of mounting fear and anxiety.

 Olympians Had to Train During a Pandemic. These Are Their Weirdest Stories.

A fencer who trained in an alleyway. An artistic swimmer who bought a kiddie pool to practice. Every Olympian had to do unusual things to train for this unprecedented Olympics.

 What Simone Biles Was Saying

An iconic Olympian hits pause on the planet’s biggest athletic stage, widening the conversation about mental health in sports

An Olympic Dream Dashed by a Nasal Swab

Qualifying for the Games can be the achievement of a lifetime. In the coronavirus era, though, that opportunity can vanish without warning.

Can Tokyo Safely Host the Olympic Games This Summer?

Little wonder some believe the risk of staging the Games might outweigh the reward. “The decision to press ahead with the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 is truly a matter of life and death,” says Jules Boykoff, a professor at Pacific University in Oregon, who studies the Olympics and represented the U.S. at soccer. “We’re talking about an optional sporting spectacle, not some essential service to -humanity, and when you throw public health into the mix, the calculus can become uncouth pretty quick.”

Condoms, vaccines and sport: how the Tokyo Olympics is sending mixed messages about COVID-19 safety

The rules about what athletes and officials can and can’t do at the games to limit the spread of COVID-19 are constantly being revised. Researchers and scientists have heavily criticised the previous version of the IOC’s playbook as not being built on scientifically rigorous risk assessment. They say it failed to consider how exposure to the coronavirus occurs, the factors contributing to exposure, and which participants may be at highest risk, including some competing at the Paralympics.

Olympics Virus Cases Raise Tricky Questions About Testing

Frequent screening of healthy, vaccinated people will pick up even the mildest infections. How much testing is too much?

Should the Olympics play on in a pandemic?

Once the games are over, all those people will be flying back home, too. If there’s a coronavirus outbreak among athletes, or exposure, they could bring those cases back home. In other words, it could become a superspreader event. Of course, Japan and the IOC are trying to prevent that. But the question is whether their measures will be enough to do it.

The Haunting, Ambivalent Olympics Opening Ceremony

The most striking image of the night was of the Olympic cauldron, a lovely, flower-shaped sculpture with a mirrored interior. Naomi Osaka, the tennis superstar, lit its flame after looking out at the world’s cameras with just a slight smile–perhaps the only kind that will ever feel right at these Games.

Tokyo Olympics begin with muted ceremony and empty stadium

“Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “But let us cherish this moment because finally we are all here together.”

Tokyo’s Olympic Village will be very vaccinated

The IOC estimates that well above 80 percent of athletes will have their shots. But with unequal vaccination access globally, the preparations are raising yet another debate.

‘Zero’ Risk of COVID Spilling from Olympic Village? We’ll Soon Find Out.

Now the question is: Does what happens in the Olympic Village stay in the Olympic Village?