Characterizing Gender and Race in the 2000 Summer Olympics: NBC's Coverage of Maurice Greene,MichaelJohnson, Marion Jones, and Cathy Freeman

Abstract

The article characterizes gender and race in the 2000 summer Olympics. Media representation of African American and indigenous peoples tend to follow stereotypical notions of both gender and race. Because African American and indigenous peoples are gendered and racialized simultaneously by media forces, the article focuses on media portrayals of three celebrated African American athletes and one aboriginal athlete in Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games, namely Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson, Marion Jones and Cathy Freeman. female athletes from many ethnicities have made great strides in Olympic history. In the Sydney 2000 Olympics, women competed in the pole vault for the first time in Olympic history, with American athlete, Stacey Dragila winning the gold medal. Despite women's accomplishments and movement past discriminatory barriers, scholars have demonstrated that mainstream media forces continue to cover women's sports less than men's sporting events like the Olympic Games where women comprise a high percentage of the total athlete population.