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Andscape at the Olympics

Andscape at the Olympics: U.S. gymnastics, Team USA Basketball’s odds of losing and sports the Games needs

Columnist William C. Rhoden and senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears talk about Simone Biles, make a basketball wager and brainstorm new Olympic events


Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring the Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.


PARIS – Welcome to Andscape at the Olympics, a video series in which Andscape columnist William C. Rhoden, senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears and Andscape/ESPN commentator Ari Chambers discuss the key topics about Black athletes and culture at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In Episode 3, Rhoden and Spears take the conversation to a park to discuss Simone Biles’ triumph with the U.S. women’s gymnastics team winning the gold medal and the U.S. men’s gymnastics team winning the bronze medal (0:50), whether the USA Basketball teams will be threatened (2:40), what events they’re interested in and have seen in their spare time (10:42) and which sports that aren’t in the Olympics should be added to the Games (14:30).

–Episode 2: Andscape at the Olympics: Talking US women’s sports from Simone Biles to Sha’Carri Richardson
–Episode 1: Andscape at the Olympics: Talking USA Basketball, opening ceremony

William C. Rhoden is a columnist for Andscape and the author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete. He directs the Rhoden Fellows, a training program for aspiring journalists from HBCUs.

Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.