Counting down to the Paris Olympics

Plus, the psychology of winning and losing.

View this email online July 21, 2024 Good morning. This week, the ACT announced that the science portion of its exam will be optional, a Palestinian American raised more than $1 million to feed his family and others in Gaza, and 35,000 more public servants saw their student loans forgiven. Best of NPR by Becky Sullivan, sports correspondent When I was 6 years old, the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta, and I was obsessed. I cut clippings from my local newspaper (the Kansas City Star) and made a scrapbook. I had a T-shirt and a little lapel pin with the logo.  Photographer/Source There were so many iconic moments that still stand out in my memory: Muhammad Ali lighting the flame; the gymnast Kerri Strug sticking the landing on a vault despite a hurt ankle; the sprinter Michael Johnson shattering the world record in the 200-meter race; the U.S. women's national team winning the first ever Olympic gold in women's soccer. Those Olympics helped to launch my lifelong love of sports.  Now, 28 years later, I've just started working as NPR's sports correspondent. I come to the beat after more than a decade covering hard news like politics, conflict, disease and natural disasters.  I'm eager to see a new generation of greatness with my own eyes: the gymnast Simone Biles, the swimmer Katie Ledecky, the sprinter Noah Lyles, the men's and women's basketball teams — plus the dozens of other sports that bubble into the American popular consciousness once every four years. Not to mention the beautiful host city of Paris itself, with an opening ceremony down the Seine, beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, equestrian events at Versailles and a marathon starting line set just across the river from Notre Dame.  By the time you read this, I've landed in Paris along with the rest of the NPR Olympics team. We're thrilled to cover this for you over these next few weeks until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11. Here's a preview of what we've done so far:  🏃🏻‍♂️ Olympians were born and a world record was broken at the U.S. track trials last month. Read the highlights and the heartbreak here.  🤸🏿‍♀️ Simone Biles said she "never pictured going to another Olympic Games after Tokyo." But she's the favorite to win gold medals in the individual all-around, vault and floor exercises in Paris. 🏅 Things were grim for USA Gymnastics at the start of 2018. Following a massive sexual abuse scandal, the organization faced shutdown, mounting lawsuits and fleeing sponsors. Here are some of the changes they made on their way back to Olympic dominance.  🏅 Katie Ledecky's 10 Olympic medals — seven of which are gold — has firmly cemented her undisputed title as the greatest female swimmer of all time. She speaks with All Things Considered host Juana Summers about what receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom means to her, and how she's thinking about the Paris Olympics.   🏅Top Chinese swimmers who are scheduled to compete in Paris have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs several times. The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency after the group reviewed positive drug tests for some Chinese swimmers but kept the results secret, which allowed the athletes to compete in the Tokyo Games in 2021.  🏅Since the beginning of women’s sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women’s category. "Tested," from NPR's Embedded and the CBC, follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race in the women’s category, unless they change their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight.   Newsletter continues after sponsor message by Suzanne Nuyen, Up First newsletter editor The Week That Was Photographer/Source Decades ago, the drug tianeptine was prescribed in dozens of countries to treat depression. It's now known as "gas station heroin," and a growing number of states are banning it. It's illegal to market or sell the drug. Still, it's in products sold at gas stations and other stores, and now U.S. poison control centers are reporting a dramatic spike in cases involving tianeptine. Learn more about the unusual and confusing history of tianeptine here. By the time they've reached middle age, many women have been taught that regular mammograms can save their lives. But many don't know about the cost of these routine screenings: false-positive results, unnecessary biopsies and anxiety and debilitating treatment for tumors that wouldn't have been harmful if left alone. Some doctors advocate for a more personalized approach to breast cancer screening and better education so women can make more informed choices.  Fifty years ago, the "New Right" won a victory in the Republican Party. This group feared the changing values around sex, civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights. They believed the establishment was too moderate and too accommodating. They dismissed the machinery of government and the media as controlled by a liberal elite. Sound familiar? These ideas were seeds sown half a century ago by the heirs of the political movement seen at this week's Republican National Convention. Dive into the history here. Wild Card with Rachel Martin Part-interview, part-existential game show – this is Wild Card from NPR. Host Rachel Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to play a game about life's biggest questions. Rachel takes actors, artists and thinkers on a choose-your-own-adventure conversation that lets them open up about their fears, their joys and how they've built meaning from experience – all with the help of a very special deck of cards. LISTEN NOW Podcast Picks B.A. Parker Code Switch: Journalists of color tackle fearless conversations about race with empathy and humor. Explore how race affects every part of society —  from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. 🎧 In the first of a two-part series, host B.A. Parker meets people who, like her, grapple with how to honor their enslaved ancestors. She asks herself: What kind of descendant does she want to be?  Embodied, from North Carolina Public Radio: Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. On Embodied, Anita Rao explores our brains and bodies, diving into taboo territories. 🎧 When you live in a disabled body, you don't always see yourself in the love stories you consume. These three people are changing that through their own writing.  1A, from WAMU: Listening to the news can feel like a journey. Let 1A guide you beyond the headlines and cut through the noise to get to the heart of the story. 🎧 NDAs aren't just for the workplace anymore. More and more people are using them to protect personal, sensitive information. In this episode, explore what's fueling this movement and its impact.  Ted Radio Hour: Join the world's greatest thinkers to learn more about the world, our communities, and, most importantly, ourselves.  🎧 The thrill of victory; the agony of defeat. Sports cliches are everywhere. But what does it actually take to think like a winner? Former professional soccer player Abby Wambach, cognitive scientist Sian Leah Beilock, journalist Kate Fagan and art historian Sarah Lewis explore the psychology of winning and losing. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Central Florida Public Media (edit station). This newsletter was edited by Carol Ritchie. Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Up First emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy