Sports

Tokyoites watch Hideo Nomo pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers at Sony Plaza on June 30, 1995.

How Baseball Has Strengthened the Relationship Between the United States and Japan

The effects of war, economic tension and accidental deaths have been mitigated by a sport that both cultures treasure

Ruth McGinnis: The Queen of Billiards

Back when pool was a serious sport that grabbed the attention of the nation, one woman smoked the competition

Larry Kwong in the 1940s

Larry Kwong, Gifted Athlete Who Broke NHL's Color Barrier, Dies at 94

Kwong, the first athlete of Asian heritage to play in an NHL game, battled racism and discrimination as he made a name for himself on the ice

Malcolm Barrett as Rufus Carlin, left, with Joseph Lee Anderson as race car driver Wendell Scott

"Timeless" Races Back to the ’50s in ‘Darlington’

The second episode of the season highlights an underappreciated NASCAR driver from the sport’s earliest days

Small differences account for a shooter’s consistency.

The Math Behind the Perfect Free Throw

A basketball computer program simulates millions of trajectories in search of the ideal shot

What surprises will this year’s tournament have in store?

Can a Computer Model Predict the First Round of This Year's March Madness?

Two mathematicians at Ohio State University are using machine learning to forecast tournament upsets

Making history

Five Things to Know About Roger Bannister, the First Person to Break the 4-Minute Mile

The Oxford medical student, who died on March 3 at age 88, broke what was believed to be an impossible record

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders director Kelli Finglass (left) peruses the donated materials with current DCC captains Jinelle (middle) and KaShara (right). Foregrounded are the original uniform sketches of designer Paula Van Wagoner.

A Classic American Cheerleading Troupe Tumbles to Smithsonian Immortality

"America's Sweethearts" are as dedicated to social service as they are to the Dallas Cowboys

Will structures like the Gangneung Ice Arena be worth the investment once the games wrap up?

Does Pyeongchang Have a Future As a Winter Sports Destination?

South Korea may fall short of its lofty goal to transform the region into an Asian hub for snow and ice sports

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s New York Times Bestseller introduces young readers to impactful black inventors and innovators.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Travels from Court to Classroom to Highlight History of African-American Inventors

The NBA all-star says he hopes young students realize the power and influence they can achieve in STEM-related fields

What Reddit Can Tell Us About the Afterlives of Banned Olympic Drugs

We analyzed 150,000 comments to find that the Internet is still openly discussing these mind-bending stimulants

Figure skater Adam Rippon will be one of two openly gay Americans competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics, a first for the U.S.

A Brief History of Openly Gay Olympians

Americans Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are the latest LGBTQ athletes to go for the gold

A South Korean athlete receives acupuncture treatment

When Treating Sports Injuries, Does the West Do It Best?

As the Olympics kick off in South Korea, two radically different approaches to training and treating athletes will be on display

Every dazzling jump on the ice—like Yuzuru Hanyu's quadruple Lutz at the 2017 Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow, Russia—requires a mastery of balance, rotational speed and angular momentum.

How Physics Keeps Figure Skaters Gracefully Aloft

Every twist, turn and jump relies on a mastery of complex physical forces

Figure skating at the Olympic winter games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1936

A Brief History of Women’s Figure Skating

You might be surprised to learn that this sport where women now shine was initially seen as solely the purview of male athletes

Jim Martinson using his sit ski at Crystal Mountain Resort, Washington

The Unbreakable Spirit of American Paralympians Is Embodied in These Artifacts

Smithsonian’s Sports History collections honor the indomitable innovators of the Paralympic community

Olympic Dreams by Neil Leifer, 1984

These Portraits Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of What It Means to Be an Olympian

From Sonja Henie to Shaun White, see these rare images from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery

Mass start speed skating sounds like chaos.

A Primer on the Four Olympic Events Debuting in Pyeongchang

The Winter Games hope to stay popular, with new disciplines that create shareable videos or feature men and women competing together

Eighmey's colonial-style corn cakes (top), forcemeat balls (lower right) and pickled French beans (lower left).

The Ben Franklin-Inspired Super Bowl Recipes You Never Knew You Needed

We don't know who Ben Franklin would root for, but we do know what he'd eat on Super Bowl Sunday

Philip Yenyo, executive director of the American Indian Movement for Ohio, leads a protest of the Cleveland Indians Chief Wahoo mascot before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Friday, April 10, 2015, in Cleveland.

Smithsonian Curator Weighs in on Cleveland Indians’ Decision to Retire ‘Racist’ Logo

Chief Wahoo, says Paul Chaat Smith, is a prime example of how the appropriation of Native American culture can be terribly problematic

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