Why the Ruling Against Caster Semenya Competing in Track Is Based on Bogus Science
The IAAF's ruling against the South African athlete reveals a lack of understanding about gender and how testosterone affects performance.
Olympics
PS Picks: Adam Rippon's Candid Conversation With the 'New York Times' About Body Image and Eating Disorders
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
It's All About the Skis
A look at the materials needed to design and construct a ski suitable for Olympic competition.
The Metamorphosis of the Sportsman
How did we go from rugged players to rabid consumers?
Beijing Babies Show the Importance of Clean Air
The Chinese government's pollution-cutting efforts for the 2008 Olympics improved birth weights in the city, a new study finds.
Gender Equality Wins the Gold
A new study finds equal rights for women may also boost the competitive prospects of men.
World Cup Fever
For many, the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games represent missed opportunities to tackle health problems and inequality.
Did Tyson Gay's Coach Give the Sprinter Banned Substances?
Jon Drummond, saying he is facing a lifetime ban, is suing Gay and the head of U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for defamation.
Weak Sanctions: A Major Shift in Anti-Doping Strategy
Anti-doping investigators say they would rather trade leniency for information on coaches and other athletes involved in doping.
Why Are Synthetic Hormones Off-Limits in Sports?
Our bodies naturally create hundreds of hormones that are key to determining our athletic abilities. But the introduction of unnatural hormones raises important questions about how we define sex and gender.
London Hosts the Olympics: Success for People Is a Failure of Place
A living, breathing example of how we misunderstand the inequity of poverty.
Russia Can Try to Change Them, but the Olympics Have Always Been Gay
Russian legislators have said they will enforce new anti-gay laws during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but the ancient athletic games started out as little more than a gigantic festival of homoerotic excess.
Supervised Drug Injection Clinic in Vancouver Finds Success
A counterintuitive approach to addiction in “Canada’s poorest postal code.”
Female Olympians Sidetracked from Prime Time TV
Female athletes continue to get short shrift on prime-time Olympic coverage.
The Sugar High Jump
The results of a new study point to placebos as the perfect performance-enhancing drug: Athletes performed better on a high-jump test after unknowingly 'doping' with sugar pills.
Just How Bad Is the Air in Beijing?
Masked marathoners aside, a new paper suggests that as bad as Beijing's air quality may be, it has improved during the decade leading up to the Olympics.