Feb. 6 – Feb. 19, 2022
Welcome to issue three hundred and eighty-three of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Africa Cup of Nations: Soccer Tournament Offers Joy Amid Coups and Covid (New York Times)
2. He trained on shopping mall ice rinks for the Olympics, but now this Mexican skater is creating history (CNN)
3. Chloe Kim Soars to New Olympic Heights After Embracing Real Life (Bleacher Report)
4. A Teen Phenom’s Secrets to Success: Long Femurs and His Own Counsel (New York Times)
5. Olympics 2022: Winter Vinecki’s unfathomable journey makes next stop in Beijing (ESPN)
6. Finnish cross-country skier wins gold, watches rest of race and waits to embrace last-place finisher (USA Today)
7. Los Angeles Rams’ Andrew Whitworth spreads the wealth to show ‘someone cares about them’ (CNN)
8. Jurgen Griesbeck interview: Common Goal and the struggle to make football wake up to its global responsibilities (Sky Sports)
9. Lorenzo Ashley was an unsung hero of the 1967 Cleveland Summit whose story has never been told (The Undefeated)
10. How does Norway dominate the Winter Olympics? By not worrying about success. (Washington Post)

10+
First Annual Sport and Human Rights Reading List (Center for Sport and Human Rights)
https://www.sporthumanrights.org/library/first-annual-sport-and-human-rights-reading-list/
How recess helps students learn (The Conversation)
https://theconversation.com/how-recess-helps-students-learn-175986
Shropshire: In the NFL, Simple Justice Will Not Be Enough (Global Sport Matters)
https://globalsportmatters.com/opinion/2022/02/10/nfl-simple-justice-will-not-be-enough-brian-flores/
Nigerian Winter Olympian Calls for More Diversity in the Games (Beyond Sport)
http://www.beyondsport.org/articles/nigerian-winter-olympian-calls-for-more-diversity-in-games/
Batouly Camara Makes Great Strikes in Empowering Women (Beyond Sport)
http://beyondsport.org/articles/batouly-makes-strides-in-empowering-women/

We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort. And now we add podcasts!

Not even cancer can keep Justin Hardy off the court
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/33325310
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 40, goes viral with incredible workout video
https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-the-toe-poke/story/4588982/ac-milan-striker-zlatan-ibrahimovic40goes-viral-with-incredible-workout-video

Introduction
This weekend was the culmination of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. We had another great 17 days of special performances, personal records, and displays of sportsmanship. Yes, we did have some not-so pleasant moments dealing with doping and cover-ups and then athlete mistreatment. It is tough to see those things happen in what is supposed to be a celebration of human excellence, not just in athletic performance but also in sportsmanship and human relations. And while I have entered a stage of life in which bad behavior and occurrences are not shocking anymore, I am also not shocked by the great feats performed by athletes and the wonderful ways they treat each other.

One of the stories that we feature this week involves Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, who won a gold medal, his third, in the men’s cross-country skiing 15km. After crossing the finishing line, Niskanen waited for every other skier, 94 of them, to also finish the race, including Colombia’s Carlos Andres Quintana, who finished the race 20 minutes after Niskanen did. After giving Quintana a warm embrace, Niskanen was quoted as saying, “”You need to respect each other as an athlete. Everyone has done lots of work to be here and it means a lot to take him across the finish line. You need that kind of respect in these Olympic Games.”

I have no interest in cross-country skiing, but I do have that respect for all the participants in that event and all of the events at the Olympics. I still believe in the Olympic ideals and despite certain countries repeatedly violating those ideals, I feel the Games are strong enough to survive, and thrive. As Niskanen said, “You need that kind of respect in the(se) Olympic Games.” Let’s commit ourselves to meeting that challenge. (Can’t wait for Paris in 2024!)

If you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email).

So, enjoy. And have a good week.

Africa Cup of Nations: Soccer Tournament Offers Joy Amid Coups and Covid (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/world/africa/senegal-egypt-afcon.html

He trained on shopping mall ice rinks for the Olympics, but now this Mexican skater is creating history (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/beijing-winter-olympics-02-10-22-spt/h_6303784aa452f1f1c722ed1b1666dd5d

Chloe Kim Soars to New Olympic Heights After Embracing Real Life (Bleacher Report)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953329-chloe-kim-soars-to-new-olympic-heights-after-embracing-real-life

A Teen Phenom’s Secrets to Success: Long Femurs and His Own Counsel (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/sports/olympics/jordan-stolz-united-states-speedskating.html

Olympics 2022: Winter Vinecki’s unfathomable journey makes next stop in Beijing (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33252131/olympics-2022-winter-vinecki-unfathomable-journey-makes-next-stop-beijing

Finnish cross-country skier wins gold, watches rest of race and waits to embrace last-place finisher (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/beijing/2022/02/13/cross-country-skier-shows-sportsmanship-waiting-last-place-finisher/6774807001/

Los Angeles Rams’ Andrew Whitworth spreads the wealth to show ‘someone cares about them’ (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/us/andrew-whitworth-la-rams-philanthropy/

Jurgen Griesbeck interview: Common Goal and the struggle to make football wake up to its global responsibilities (Sky Sports)
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12543484/jurgen-griesbeck-interview-common-goal-and-the-struggle-to-make-football-wake-up-to-its-global-responsibilities

Lorenzo Ashley was an unsung hero of the 1967 Cleveland Summit whose story has never been told (The Undefeated)
https://theundefeated.com/features/lorenzo-ashley-is-an-unsung-hero-at-the-1967-ali-summit-whose-story-has-never-been-told/

How does Norway dominate the Winter Olympics? By not worrying about success. (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/02/15/norway-biathlon-medals-lead/

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Our goal is to have Sports Doing Good be a portal housing original content and excerpts from and links to the increasing number of articles, websites, video, and other media that showcase the good in sports and society. We aim to celebrate those concepts, activities, events, and individuals by highlighting them for a wider audience. Much of the news today, whether sports- related or not, is incredibly negative and increasingly polarizing, biased, and quite annoying. We are trying to refocus some of the discussion on the good, with a focus on sports.

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Contact Information
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Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141
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