• Slug: Sports-Paralympic Archer Bennett, 750 words.
• Photo available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Sydney Lovan
Special for Cronkite News

PARIS – Full-time teacher by morning, Paralympic athlete by afternoon and a father always, Team USA archer Eric Bennett is embarking on his fifth Paralympic Games with his sights set on a prize bigger than the gold medal: his family in attendance to watch him shoot.

Bennett, a Surprise native and graduate of Northern Arizona University, began practicing archery when he was 7 and quickly found a passion for the sport until he lost his right arm at 15, when a drunk driver hit the car in which he was a passenger. It wasn’t until about 10 years later that he started shooting again, this time with help from his father.

“When I realized that I could shoot again, that’s when a fire was lit, and I had gotten my love back,” said Bennett, who is set to compete in the recurve Para Archery event beginning Thursday in Paris. Continue reading “Arizona archer Eric Bennett prepares for fifth Paralympics, this time with family by his side”

• Slug: Sports-WNBA Salary Minimum, 1,400 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• graphic available.

By Joshua Heron
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On June 27, Liz Dixon sat on a furniture top in the Verizon 5G Performance Center hallway, discussed the difficulties of living on a WNBA minimum contract and knew she was vulnerable on the one-year, $64,154 deal that offered little to no security and stability.

Five days later, the Phoenix Mercury waived the forward.

“One of the hardships is teams can get anybody under minimal contracts,” Dixon said. “You’re already paying me less than everybody else, but what if one day they don’t need you? They’ll want somebody else they can get. They can get another vet at the exact same price as a rookie. So it’s more like, ‘Hey, even though I am making the minimum payment, am I still needed? Am I still an asset to them?” Continue reading “Minimum salaries, max effort: The unseen financial hardships of Phoenix Mercury and WNBA players”

• Slug: Sports-Olympic Pins Paris, 730 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Video available.

By Tyler Bednar
Cronkite News

PARIS – From Snoop Dogg blowing Olympic-looking smoke rings to a heart with gymnast Simone Biles’ name in it, the pins of the Paris Games are still creating a buzz even weeks after the competitions ended.

Pin trading at the Olympics is popular for athletes and spectators. Some fans travel across the world specifically to collect and trade them.

The tradition can be traced to the first modern Games in 1896, when the pins were used to identify athletes, officials and media members. In the Athens Olympics, only 241 athletes – compared to the more than 10,000 in Paris – competed for 14 teams in 43 events.

Continue reading “From Snoop Dogg blowing Olympic-like rings to Simone Biles’ heart, pins remain the talk post-Paris Games”

• Slug: Sports-Olympics Sports Courts Paris, 1,900 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Zach Bradshaw and Doyal D’angelo
Cronkite News

PARIS – The enhancement of sports facilities at the Paris Games wasn’t limited to Olympic venues.

The City of Paris also reinvigorated community sports courts, a vital component of any neighborhood’s urban culture.

This isn’t a new concept. When Phoenix has hosted big events, professional leagues and local organizing committees often contribute money to improve youth fields and and athletic structures. But it was particularly important in Paris, where updating the sports landscape requires a deft touch in a city knows for its one-of-kind architecture. Continue reading “Olympics bring vibrant sports courts to Paris’ often forgotten neighborhoods”

• Slug–Sports: Paris Street Sports, 880 words.
• Photo, video available.

By Scott Sandulli
Cronkite News

PARIS – Hosting the Olympics gives any city a chance to show itself off to the world. Paris, with the Eiffel Tower lit up at night among several glamorous visuals, hardly needed any introduction when the world converged upon the City of Light for the 33rd Olympiad.

Even in such a picturesque atmosphere, the distinct street culture survives the millions of tourists that flock to Paris every year. Graffiti lines many public spaces and is embraced as part of a cultural identity. Among the arrondissements, it might as well be their screaming crowd backdrop as they play against their friends and foes in a little-known, tight-knit community of Paris street sports. Continue reading “From skateboarding to basketball, Paris showcased its street sport culture during Olympics”

• Slug–Sports: Olympians Mental Heath, 840 words.
• Photo, video available.

By Walker Smith
Cronkite News

PARIS – Even though the Paris Games are over, a commitment to the mental health of athletes is not.

While it’s the pinnacle of sporting achievement, the Olympics create a pressure-filled environment for athletes that almost no other competition can mimic. The weight of a nation, the expectations of greatness and the knowledge that this may be the only chance at gold all take a toll on an Olympian’s mental health.

The IOC and Team USA are proactive in protecting the athletes’ mental health as well as finding ways to help block out social media attacks. The Paris Olympics highlighted that mental health awareness continues to grow through therapy, high-tech relaxation and AI.

Continue reading “IOC, Team USA use new technology to promote athlete mental wellness, even after Olympics are over”

• Slug–Sports: Sports Betting Arizona. 1,563 words.
• Photos and graphic available.

By Mateo Arenas
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – When looking for a best bet, the data never lies.

Since legalization in 2021, sports gambling has surged in the state of Arizona. In April, the state outpaced the betting mecca of Nevada, with almost $100 million more wagered at sportsbooks in the month, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming. With a checkered past related to wagering on sports, Arizona State University students have plenty contributed to the massive handle.

“I absolutely think sports betting has picked up a lot recently, especially just in classes and stuff. More of it being like a regular day activity rather than, ‘Oh we’re sports betting,’” said ASU student Douglas Santo. “I think you’ve seen it kind of infiltrate the classrooms, like it’s not something where people are trying to be quiet about or tiptoe around it.

“It’s here to stay, and people know that.”

While betting on college campuses is hardly a new fad, the legalization of sports betting in 38 of 50 states has certainly brought the daily betting lines out of the shadows. Gone are the days when ESPN spoke about spreads in innuendo, and here are the days of throwing over/under bets in math class.

“I would say mostly everyone I talk to has at least placed more than 50 sports bets in their life,” said ASU rising senior Brendon Pehar. “I find myself watching a game, and the first thing I ask about the game to my friend is, ‘What do you got on this?’”

Continue reading “Betting on the future: Legalized sports gambling thrives, but at what cost to students and athletes?”

• Slug: Sports–Arizona Training Paris Olympics, 570 words.
• Photo available.

By Abigail Scott
Cronkite News

PARIS – If the Paris Olympics taught us anything, it’s that the combination of high-altitude and extreme heat training in Arizona help prepares athletes for high-level competition. From Flagstaff’s mountainous elevations to the scorching deserts of Tucson and Phoenix, these environments are proving to be invaluable for building endurance and resilience.

Approximately 250 Olympians and Paralympians trained in Flagstaff before the Tokyo Games, and many others escaped to the Phoenix and Tucson areas for warmth during winter months. A similar amount did the same before Paris.

Among the distance runners who trained in Flagstaff and competed in Paris is Grant Fisher, who grabbed bronze in the men’s 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. Many others who competed came to the Phoenix area to train in the winter for the forgiving weather, included triathlete Kirsten Kasper. Continue reading “Paris Olympics showcase athletes who choose to train in Arizona’s heat, high altitude”

• Slug: Sports–Paris Women Equity, 760 words.
• Photo available.

By Melanie Hogue
Cronkite News

PARIS – From this year’s Paralympics’ mascot proudly displaying a disability to the introduction of the first nursery in the Olympic Village, the Paris Games inspired conversations about inclusivity.

Although the Games are coming to a close, the discussion is far from over. Paris has long been a site of historic milestones for women, from Joan of Arc to Marie Curie. This year’s Olympics, the first to achieve full gender parity – an equal number of male and female athletes represented – marks significant progress since women were first allowed to compete in 1900, in Paris.

At the time, women only represented 2.2% of athletes and were limited to competing in tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. Today, that has expanded to 20 mixed gender events and 152 female competitions at this year’s Games, including triathlon, which has been put in the spotlight recently due to the controversy over swimming in the Seine River. Continue reading “As Paris Olympics comes to a close, gender equity, inclusivity discussions continue”

• Slug: Sports-Paris Movie Popularity, 1,000 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Walker Smith
Cronkite News

PARIS – Hollywood may be the cinematic capital of the world, but few cities are featured more in film than the City Of Light. From American favorite such as “The Da Vinci Code,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Mission Impossible: Fallout” and “Taken” to French hits like “Amélie,” Paris has provided the backdrop for some of cinema’s best projects.

Paris’ flexibility as a film-making city has no bounds. The city has countless iconic scenes from movies. With its rich film history, more and more directors requested to shoot in Paris following the COVID-19 shutdown.

“The thing with Paris is its beauty,” said Juliette Dubois, founder and director of Ciné-Balade. “You can project what you want to project. This is part of the magic, and also there is all the history, all the heart which has inspired the movie makers.” Continue reading “Action! Paris’ beauty translates to a city that serves as a backdrop to endless movies”