Can We Build A Better Summer Olympics?

The Summer Olympics are the one time every four years when millions of people tune into track and field and swimming; stars from rival basketball and soccer clubs come together to represent their respective countries; and people learn (and then forget) the rules of synchronized swimming and the difference between platform and springboard diving. But the Olympics are also fraught with problems, from corruption to doping to the costs and impacts of hosting, including environmental damage, displacement, and intrusive policing. And the Games can be a stage upon which racism, homophobia, and sexism play out. Can the Olympics be rebuilt? What lessons can we take from the history of the modern Games?

Olympic gold medalist and activist Greg Louganis, Olympic medalist Lashinda Demus, athlete and ASU sports historian Victoria Jackson, and Donna Lopiano, athlete and former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, visited Zócalo to discuss possible futures for the Summer 2020 Olympics.

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