We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in sports writing.
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Final Girl, Terrible Place
I was expecting a handy theory. What I found was a way of seeing that would help me decode a script I’d been stuck in for much of my life.
An Audience of Athletes: The Rise and Fall of Feminist Sports
Billie Jean King once tried to find a sustainable business model for feminist sports coverage. Then women’s fitness tried to revive the swimsuit model.
The Secret Door
“When we read, we make believe. We aren’t duped or ensorcelled. Deep down we decide. We make ourselves believe.”
Open Secrets: Celebrity Sexuality and Athletic Abuse
Editors discuss the gender politics of music criticism, how young womxn drive conversations around cultural figures, institutionalized discrimination in sport, and more.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re sharing stories from Stacy Perman, Azadeh Moaveni, Jake Kring-Schreifels, Kris Newby, and Nikita Arora.
The 19th-Century Hipster Who Pioneered Modern Sportswriting
More than a century before GoPro, Thomas Stevens’ around-the-world bike ride vaulted first-person “sports porn” into the mainstream.
Best of 2023: All of Our Number Five Story Picks
Each story we chose as our number five piece of the week in 2023, all in one place.
Location, Location, Location: Six Stories on Moving House
Jacqueline Alnes explores identity and privilege in these six stories about moving house.
The Strange True Tale of ‘Castro’s No. 1 Killer’
Herman Marks, a drifter from Milwaukee, took a boat to Cuba with nothing but a Colt .45 revolver and $400 in cash. His plan? To join the revolution.

