New research has found that racial vilification is a common occurrence in junior sport in Australia – and is rarely punished when it happens.
- Head, School of Social and Political Sciences and Professor of Sociology, The University of Melbourne
Older adults are the fastest-growing demographic on online dating websites, so much so that there has been a recent proliferation of sites catering specifically for the senior market, such as DatingOver60s…
Two interesting and intersecting events occurred at the Australian Open this week. First, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga questioned women’s ability to control their emotions while playing tennis at a press…
Once again, the myth of natural talent rears its ugly head. This pernicious myth suggests that Black athletes are better at sport that White athletes, and also that White athletes have to be cleverer and…
That I can comment on the Olympics is only possible because media organisations pay journalists to report on them. I get my Olympics information from the mainstream news media. I interpret it through a…
The tears, the laments, the massive sadness over Australia’s ‘disappointing’ performance at the Olympics. Drew Ginn of the Oarsome Foursome looked so very disappointed at his team’s second place finish…
For decades Jamaican sprinters have punched above their weight. Jamaica has won at least one medal for sprinting at every Olympic Games since 1968. Jamaican men and women have both excelled, but the women…
The second week of the Olympics is almost upon us, bringing on the athletics competition. Caster Semenya, a talented middle-distance runner, carried the South African flag at the Opening Ceremony of the…
As discussed below by Anthony Bedford, eight doubles badminton players were disqualified from the Olympics yesterday for trying to lose their matches. The players, from South Korea, China and Indonesia…
Sociologist Kieran Healy posted this fun diagram on the Crooked Timber blog, a two dimensional model of Olympics sports by whether they are good (or bad) sports, and whether they belong in the Olympics…
This is my first Olympics as an Australian. Yes, I’ve lived here for 15 years, and been a citizen for more than a few, but this is the first Olympics I’ve actually felt Australian in my heart of hearts…
One of the greatest honours for an Olympic athlete is being selected to carry the flag in the Opening Ceremony, and who will be selected is the subject of great debate. This year the debate has focused…
This morning Sam Lane reported on the front page of the Age that the Australian women’s basketball team flew premium economy to London while the men flew business class. On the one hand, this sounds like…
The Olympics are again upon us, and Australia has some excellent and prominent women athletes. Stephanie Rice, Sally Pearson and Anna Meares, for example, are all at the top of their game and likely to…
